The next sound a Berkeley Liberation Radio (BLR) broadcaster may hear just might be the dreaded knock on the door from a federal SWAT team. 

A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) notice served on the station Friday charges that 104.1 FM was operating without a license and that the station’s signal was bleeding into other, licensed frequencies. 

The action followed two days after federal agents served a cease and desist order at the station, which broadcasts from a second floor studio at 5427 Telegraph Ave. in Oakland. 

For Screwy Lewie and Soul, the notice stirs up memories of the Dec. 11, 2002, raid when more than a dozen armed U.S. Marshals accompanied by an Oakland police officer raided the station and seized all the equipment and CDs, leaving behind only the station’s inventory of vinyl LP albums. 

“They shoved a gun into the face of a student who was visiting at the time,” said Soul, who hosts the Isabella Show Friday mornings at 7. 

“We were told not to go back on the air again, but we were collectively able to gather up new equipment and everything we needed to go back on the air again on Dec. 27. We’ve continued ever since.” 

Berkeley Liberation Radio is a classic example of microradio, the mostly unlicensed stations that broadcast at less than 100 watts of power—typically with a broadcasting radius of about five miles from the transmitter. 

When the FCC agreed to license microradio five years ago, the decision didn’t automatically legitimize the host of small stations, many distinctly leftist in character, that were broadcasting at the time. 

Instead, under the Bush administration, the lion’s share of licenses have been granted to churches. 

“They won’t license stations that had early actions against them,” said Screwy Lewie, who hosts “The Vinyl Time Machine.” 

A new raid would fit in with two other recent actions: an Oct. 15, 2003, raid on San Francisco Liberation Radio that shut down the station and a similar raid last Sept. 29 that shut down Radio Free Santa Cruz. 

Berkeley attorney Alan Korn, who has represented the San Francisco in challenging the action, said current federal legislation weighs heavily against microradio stations in urban areas. 

Under lobbying pressure from corporate broadcasters, Congress narrowed FCC regulations that defined the frequency distances between existing stations and microradio broadcasters, further limiting the opportunities for microradio in the heavily crowded urban airwaves. 

“The rules require huge gaps [between broadcast frequencies],” Korn said, “much more than necessary.” 

The FCC notice served Friday claims 104.1 is detectable above the allowable limits, and also charges that the station is also encroaching on frequencies used by air traffic controllers and aircraft at Oakland International Airport. 

Korn, who serves on the National Lawyers Guild’s Committee on Democratic Communication, said he is skeptical of the latter claim, “but it’s a good way to make certain that a judge will issue a warrant,” he said. 

While a federal trial-level judge rejected his appeal of the FFC seizure at the San Francisco, the case is now on appeal before the U.S. Courts of Appeals’ Ninth Circuit, traditionally the most liberal in the federal system. 

BLR staffers are quick to note that theirs isn’t a pirate radio station—an illegal broadcaster who usurps a frequency already assigned by the FCC.  

Soul noted that “the FCC is saying they won’t give a license to anyone they say has violated the law. Besides, that’s not our intent.” She doesn’t want the license herself.  

Unlike some of the all-volunteer staff, Screwy Lewie said he’d like to see the station get a license. 

Both broadcasters are long-term veterans of microradio. Soul’s been with BLR and its predecessor since 1998, and Screwy Lewie since 1996. 

After the closure of Radio Free Berkeley in June, 1998, BLR was born the following year outside the studios of KPFA when the station was forced briefly off the air. 

For Screwy Lewie, the station has helped him fulfill a lifelong dream. “I’m doing exactly what I want to do,” he said. 

And like others on the staff, he vows to keep the station running whatever happens with the pending FCC action. 

Asked about what was happening with BLR, an FCC official in Washington, speaking only on background, would allow only that no comment was possible because of the ongoing investigation. 

Second Crisis  

The current contretemps with the feds isn’t the station’s only crisis. Other tenants in the building they now use have complained that their transmitter is interfering with electronic equipment, leading to an eviction notice from their landlord. 

Even before the FCC notices, the station had planned a fundraiser for this Friday to help raise cash to find a new home for their operations. 

The $20 a head function will be held at the Oakland Metro near Jack London Square at 201 Broadway in Oakland starting at 7:30. n

Albany residents reject a proposed shopping mall at Golden Gates Fields by a convincing margin, according to a poll City Councilmember Robert Lieber submitted to his colleagues Monday night. 

The survey of 400 registered Albany voters, conducted by the Evans/McDonough Company of Oakland, reports that when initially asked, 60 percent said they thought the project was either a bad idea or a very bad idea. Twenty-seven percent offered favorable opinions. 

If it is built, the maxi-mall, planned for a little-used 45-acre parking lot next to the entrance to the Albany Bulb, would provide 600,000 to 800,000 square feet of retail space in a scenic location—which merchants fear will kill businesses already reeling from a troubled economy. 

Two-thirds of Albany residents said they favored environmental restoration and open space along the waterfront instead of the upscale mall proposed by Magna Entertainment Corporation—the owner of the Golden Gates Fields racetrack—and Caruso Affiliated Holdings, run by Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso. 

The poll also revealed that most Albany residents (57 percent) have never visited the race track, with another 18 percent saying they visited once a year. Only 7 percent said they visit one or more days a week during racing season. 

Brian Parker, a former Albany City Council candidate, said he raised the funds for the survey, with the majority coming from two larger donors who have requested anonymity. 

“The biggest supporters of the mall are white males who are ‘decline to state’ voters, while the biggest opponents are older white Democratic women who shop on Solano Avenue,” he said. 

Parker said construction of the mall “would be the end of Solano Avenue,” the upscale street of shops and restaurants that begins in Albany and ends at Sutter Street in Berkeley. “If the mall goes through, we’ll be having vacancies again,” he added. 

Matt Middlebrook, the former Los Angeles deputy mayor who is working for Caruso to develop support for the project, said he was very disappointed with the poll. 

“I’m disappointed not with the results,” he said, “but with the fact that someone is spending $20,000 on a poll designed to influence decisions on a project that’s not even designed yet. It’s designed not to find out the opinions of Albany voters but to find arguments that will influence their decisions.” 

Any waterfront development in Albany must be submitted to voter approval. 

While Middlebrook charged that the poll presented to the council doesn’t include all the questions asked during the poll, Lieber said “we are releasing 100 percent of the results about the project.” 

The only information not included in the packet concerned voter opinions of individual elected officials, he said. 

“The biggest surprise was that voters were most concerned about traffic,” Lieber said. Nearly three out of four voters polled cited traffic as their greatest concern. 

“They probably remember the days when the track was more popular, but then traffic is a lot worse now and perhaps they just don’t want to see more of it,” Lieber said. 

Middlebrook scoffed at concerns expressed by those polled that the mall would result in concrete dominating the waterfront, the second-ranked concern reported by pollsters. “It’s currently dominated by asphalt,” he said. 

Likewise he dismissed fears that the mall could lead to a doubling of Albany’s population, the third-ranked concern. 

Caruso’s company has deep pockets, recently spending seven figures on successfully influencing a voter referendum on a mall in Glendale.m

Two years after a group of Jefferson Elementary School parents and teachers began circulating a petition to change the school’s name because of Thomas Jefferson’s connection to slavery, the general Berkeley public will get its first—and only—opportunity to officially enter the process when the BUSD Board of Education holds a public hearing on the issue prior to Wednesday night’s regular board meeting. 

While public comment on the issue has been widespread throughout the city—including in the letters pages of the Daily Planet—official input has been confined so far to a narrowly defined Jefferson School community.  

The hearing will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Old City Hall on Martin Luther King Jr. Way in downtown Berkeley. Under Berkeley Unified’s facilities name-change policy, the board makes the final decision on proposed name changes following a vote by members of the current school community at the individual school: students, staff members, and parents and guardians of present students. The vote will be held during the board’s regular meeting, scheduled to begin at 7:45 p.m. 

At the end of last month, current Jefferson School community members voted to change the school’s name to Sequoia. Some people have suggested that the name referred to a 19th century Georgia Cherokee leader and inventor named Sequoya—also known as George Guess—who developed the Cherokee alphabet. However, school officials and literature distributed during the voting process both indicate that the proposed new name was intended to represent the giant California tree. 

Board members were evenly divided on the name change when the issue first came to them at their last meeting, with Board Vice President Terry Doran and Director John Selawsky indicating that they would respect the vote of the school community to change the name, and Directors Shirley Issel and Joaquin Rivera saying they would oppose the name change. Board President Nancy Riddle said she had not yet made up her mind. 

Board members are also divided as to what criteria should be used to uphold or deny the proposed Jefferson Elementary name change. Selawsky said at the last meeting that the board’s only function should be to certify whether the school community properly followed the district’s name-change policy. Rivera countered that the board’s function in the name change is “more than just an automatic process; it’s within the board’s discretion to vote it up or down.” 

The policy itself is silent on that issue, stating only that once a name-change petition has been received, “the board will act on the petition.” 

In her report to the Board, Superintendent Michele Lawrence said the she “can certify to the board that there were no violations of [the name change] policy” during the school’s vote. “The superintendent believes the steps outlined in the present policy have been followed as required...” 

Lawrence called the district’s name-change policy itself “significantly flawed,” and board members on both sides of the Jefferson name change issue have indicated that once the Jefferson change is decided, the board will move forward with changes to that policy. Among the complaints received is that the district’s policy allows K-3 elementary school children to vote on proposed school name changes, while excluding—among others—school alumni, parents of students who have graduated from the school, and residents of the school neighborhood. 

Board President Riddle said that board members had decided not to make changes while the Jefferson name change campaign was ongoing for fear of being accused of trying to sway the school community vote one way or the other. 

Budget matters are also scheduled to take up much of the board’s attention Wednesday night. 

As earlier promised—or warned—the superintendent’s office is recommending reductions in the Berkeley High athletic program. The $25,000 in recommended General Fund cuts—in overtime and stipends for coaches of some freshman teams—are expected to be partially offset by an expected $20,000 grant award from the independent nonprofit Berkeley Athletic Fund. 

Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the Board will release to the public the proposed contract settlement agreements with its five employee unions, and will take its first public look at the proposed district budget for fiscal year 2005-06.

After months of deliberation, AC Transit’s Board of Directors has settled on a fare hike in an attempt to offset a projected $40 million budget deficit. 

It has been three years since the last basic fare hike, and the cost of transfers has not changed since 1990. 

The decision holds youth, senior, and disability passes at their present rates and the cost of transfers will remain at 25 cents, but adult fares will rise from $1.50 to $1.75 and 31-day adult passes from $60 to $70. Transbay passes will go from $3 to $3.50 for adults and from $1.50 to $1.70 for seniors, youths, and persons with disabilities. The price of a transbay 31-day pass will increase from $100 to $116. 

The fare hikes are effective Sept. 6. 

Without fare increases, AC Transit General Manager Rick Fernandez said that the agency would be forced to consider reducing both personnel and operations, after a 17 percent reduction in services last year. 

Directors Joe Wallace (Richmond), Hayashi (Hayward), Chris Peeples (at-large), and Rebecca Kaplan (at-large) voted in favor of the modified proposal. Peeples emphasized that because the AC Transit works on a grid system that has been adversely affected by service cuts, forcing people to make more transfers, the agency had a responsibility to keep transfer prices low. 

Directors Greg Harper and Dolores Jaquez, both representing Oakland, and Director Joe Bischofberger (Newark and Fremont) voted against the measure, saying they were in favor of raising the price of transfers. 

AC Transit passes are available at Long’s Drugs, Andronico’s, Berkeley Bowl, Elephant Pharmacy, and the AC Transit offices in Oakland and San Francisco. 

h

After two decades of escorting Berkeley school children across some of Berkeley’s busiest intersections, George Harris—one of the city’s oldest crossing guards—turned in his stop sign Friday. 

Harris’ retirement after 50 years as a Berkeley public employee, the last 20 as a crossing guard, was greeted with little fanfare but a lot of love from neighbors who said they appreciated his presence every school day. 

“He’s a very kind gentleman and just a very nice human being,” said Darryl Bartlow, a resident at the corner of Ashby and Fulton where Harris has served as a crossing guard for Le Conte Elementary School for the past 12 years. 

“He’s part of the neighborhood. It seems like he’s been our crossing guard since my son was a munchkin,” added Lisa Bullwinkle, another neighbor. Not only did Harris help Bullwinkle’s family cross Ashby, she said, but as an added kind act he baked them several batches of his signature dish, peach cobbler. 

“This job has been just like going to church for me,” said Harris, a North Oakland resident and the father of nine children. “I enjoyed the students so much I kept coming back every year.” 

Harris didn’t become a crossing guard for the money. Thirty years collecting garbage for the city netted him a pension, but retirement didn’t give him enough opportunity to chat. “George is a schmooze artist,” Bullwinkle said. 

On his last day, the retiring guard struck up conversations with pedestrians and cyclists as they waited for the light to turn green, not about his pending retirement, but about his time in the army. 

Harris grew up in Pittsburgh, Penn., the son of a bricklayer. In 1942 the army sent him to Berkeley. As a member of the 779th Military Police Battalion, he was stationed at Camp Ashby just west of San Pablo Avenue. 

“Back then, all you had to do was stand on Ashby and girls would say ‘Hey soldier boy’ and offer you a ride to San Francisco,” he said. “Those were the good old days.” 

The army sent Harris to Burma for the last year of the war, but he liked California so much, he came back for good in 1946. 

He got a job collecting garbage in Berkeley at a time when the metal bins didn’t have wheels and the garbage men hauled the trash over their shoulder into the truck. 

When he retired after 30 years without taking a sick day, Harris ran into a Berkeley police sergeant, who recommended he apply to be a crossing guard. 

“The sergeant told me never to hold a student’s hand or get to close to any of them because the others might get jealous,” he said. 

Harris has tried to follow the rules, but said he just couldn’t help talking to some students. “Sometimes if I’m walking on Shattuck, someone will call my name and say, ‘Mr. Harris, don’t you remember me, you used to cross me.’” 

As a friendly gesture a few years back, he gave his stop sign to Bullwinkle’s son, Tyler Volz. 

“Mr. Harris is the man,” said Volz, now a Berkeley High student. “He’d always put a smile on your face every time you see him.” 

During his 20 years on the job, Harris saw plenty of car accidents, but never let a pedestrian get hit. He said there were a few instances where he kept students from accidents, and recalled one time when a student yelled at him to dodge an oncoming car Harris didn’t see coming. 

“The boy basically saved my life,” he said. 

Even at age 84, with arthritis in his legs, Harris has mixed feelings about retirement. He said he might have stuck around a little longer if budget problems weren’t forcing the city to reduce the number of crossing guards next year. With his seniority, Harris knows his job would be safe, but he didn’t want to displace a crossing guard who needed the income. 

“I don’t want to take milk off anybody’s table,” he said. 

A devout Christian and member of Berkeley’s Progressive Baptist Church, Harris says he’ll spend most of his free time studying the Bible. But he promised neighbors Friday that he would make a few visits back to the intersection he patrolled for a dozen years. 

“I’m going to miss all these nice people,” he said. “Getting the wave from all the people walking and bicycling past. It made me feel good.” 

A proposal at Tuesday’s Berkeley City Council meeting could constrain Berkeley’s recent practice of settling city land use lawsuits behind closed doors. 

Mayor Tom Bates and Councilmember Kriss Worthington have proposed approving in principle the concept of requiring all future confidentiality agreements to include a provision for public review and comment on any tentative land use, master plan, or long range plan agreement before final council action. They want the city manager to return with appropriate implementation language. 

The proposal comes amid harsh criticism from neighborhood leaders over a deal to settle a city lawsuit against UC Berkeley regarding the campus’ Long Range Development Plan. A confidentiality agreement between the city and UC to apply to the negotiations was interpreted by the city attorney’s office as precluding the council from disclosing the proposed settlement for public comment until after both sides approved the deal. 

“I was shocked that we were not able to take the agreement to the public,” Bates said. “I want to clarify that it will never happen again.” 

If it passes, the proposal would make Berkeley one of the first cities in California to codify the right of residents to comment on certain types of settlements, said Peter Scheer of the California First Amendment Coalition, an open government advocate. But the ordinance, he added, “would simply codify a standard political practice in most local governments.” 

Santa Cruz City Attorney John Barisone said that city’s council decides on a case-by-case basis whether or not a lawsuit is far-reaching enough to allow for public review of a proposed settlement. 

“Obviously when dealing with the university it will be of general public interest [to disclose a settlement],” he said. 

Requiring proposed settlements to be released for public comment can make negotiations more difficult, Barisone said. “When you’re dealing with a business or corporate entity they are not always willing to go through a public tongue lashing.” 

State law allows cities to settle lawsuits without public input. 

Councilmember Betty Olds questioned the wisdom of disclosing every land use lawsuit to public scrutiny and said that in light of the UC settlement, the proposal seemed too late. 

“We’re locking the barn door after the horse was stolen,” she said. 

Under the settlement, the city withdrew its lawsuit contesting the university’s Long Range Development Plan and the university doubled its payments for city services and agreed to work with the city on new zoning rules for the downtown.  

In more fallout from the UC settlement, the council is scheduled to vote on allowing UC Berkeley to pay reduced sewer fees. In April, the council passed sewer fees requiring UC Berkeley—a state institution exempt from local fees and taxes—to pay a higher rate, approximately $2.1 million for next year.  

But the city slipped in a clause allowing it to cut a separate deal with UC pending the resolution of settlement talks. The settlement agreement calls for UC to pay Berkeley $200,000 a year for sewer services—roughly $300,00 less than it paid this year. The city is supplementing its sewer budget with money from property taxes. City Manager Phil Kamlarz has said that, despite reduced payments from UC, Berkeley would not have to further increase sewer fees for residents this year, which are already scheduled to go up by 3 percent. 

Budget 

With one week to go before the city must pass a balanced budget, the council will hold a public hearing and debate a proposal from Mayor Bates on how to spend unallocated funds. 

The city has ordered departments to cut their budgets 10 percent to help close an $8.9 million deficit in the city’s general fund. However the city has received an unexpected windfall from higher than expected revenues from a tax on property transfers. The council has set aside most of the money for capital projects like street repair and a new police dispatch system, but there is still roughly $700,000 for the council to allocate. 

Mayor Bates’ proposal calls for spending $267,974 up front and holding off on allocating the rest of the funds until December, when the city has a better sense of whether the tax revenues will remain high. 

Bates calls for spending $80,000 to restore the Berkeley Guides for six months, $40,000 for Berkeley Youth Alternatives’ employment program, $12,500 to extend for six months the contract of Pedal Express to deliver interoffice mail by bicycle, and $24,163 to maintain the city’s civic arts coordinator as a full time position through December.  

If property tax revenues remain strong, the mayor proposes to then spend $40,000 on a crime analyst, $38,802 to help low income children obtain hearing aids, $50,000 to pay for a gate to close off a new bicycle path at night, $44,000 for civic arts grants and $19,643 to pay for safety escorts at the Ashby BART station. 

Competing plans have been issued by the Human Welfare and Community Action Commission, which has called for restoring over $1.1 million to community non-profits that provide services to the poor. In addition, Councilmember Worthington has proposed restoring $600,000 in community non-profits funding. 

Other Items 

• The council will again consider whether to require a public hearing before the Zoning Adjustment Board to issue permits to demolish 24 apartments in the Drayage, an illegal live-work warehouse in West Berkeley. 

• Mayor Bates and Linda Maio have proposed that the council urge county lawmakers to select a registrar of voters who favors instant runoff voting. The outgoing registrar, Bradley Clark, has been seen by IRV supporters as an opponent of the system Berkeley voters approved last year. 

• The council will be asked to amend city election laws to allow credit and debit cards for campaign expenditures. 

Concerns over a pair of contaminated sites in Richmond will be addressed at two meetings this week and another on June 30. All are being convened by state agencies. 

On Wednesday, the state Department of Health Services (DHS) will address worker concerns about health problems at UC Berkeley’s Richmond Field Station (RFS). The meeting will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. in Building 454 of the station, which is located just south of Marina Bay. 

A second session scheduled from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the offices of Kray Cabling, 1344 South 49th S t. in Richmond, will address health concerns of owners and employees of businesses near the Campus Bay site, just south of RFS. 

The June 30 meeting will be the first for the Community Advisory Group (CAG) appointed to help the state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) develop cleanup plans for the controversial Campus Bay site. 

The main item on the CAG’s agenda will be the decision whether or not to extend its oversight to the RFS. 

The CAG meeting will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Bermuda Room of the Richmond Convention Center, 403 Civic Center Plaza near the corner of Nevin and 25th streets. 

CAGs are an integral part of the state Department of Toxic Substances Control cleanup efforts at sites contaminated by toxic and other conta minants, and the new Richmond CAG was formed as the result of a petition circulated by Richmond activist Ethel Dotson. 

The 25-member panel was picked by a selection committee that included Dotson, Bay Area Residents for Responsible Development member She rry Padgett, Michelle Milan of the staff of Assemblymember Loni Hancock and Jay Leonhardy, assistant to Richmond Mayor Irma Anderson. 

Included on the CAG are representatives of three government agencies, including Contra Costa County Public Health Direct or Wendel Brunner, Richmond City Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin and Richmond Redevelopment Agency chief Steven Duran. 

McLaughlin and Brunner have expressed strong reservations about plans to develop 1,331 residential units atop the buried toxins at Campus Bay while Duran has been a strong proponent of the project. 

UC Berkeley officials resisted a resolution by McLaughlin that called on the Richmond City Council to urge the transfer of cleanup efforts at the field station from the Regional Water Quality Control Board to DTSC. 

The water board has no toxicologists on its staff while the DTSC boasts a strong collection of toxic experts. 

Meanwhile UC Berkeley unions are pressing the school’s administrators for more information about toxics at the field sta tion, as well as for reports of illnesses suffered by workers at the site.

Berkeley’s Transportation Commissioners refused Thursday to endorse the Waterfront Commission’s June 8 recommendation to choose the dock at the Doubletree Hotel as the future terminal for ferry service. 

Instead, the Transportation Commission voted to urge the San Francisco Bay Water Transit Authority (WTA) to consider all potential area sites in their plans for providing ferry transit services to the East Bay. 

That decision would include consideration of sites at the waterfront near the foot of Gilman Street in Berkeley and Buchanan Streets in Albany, both strongly disfavored by environmentalists and Paul Kamen, chair of the Waterfront Commission. 

“This is the first time I’ve ever found myself in agreement with Norman La Force,” said Kamen. La Force is the Bay Area attorney for the Sierra Club, which often finds itself at odds with waterfront development advocates. 

Also opposed to the Gilman and Albany sites is Citizens for Eastshore Parks. That organization played an instrumental role in creating the Eastshore State Park, which is scheduled to acquire the Albany Bulb, the small landfill that begins at the end of Buchanan Street.  

Albany City Councilmember Robert Lieber noted Monday that both the Gilman and Buchanan street sites would require extensive dredging before they could be used by ferries, while the Berkeley Marina site would not. 

The Doubletree pier is already used by Hornblower cruise ships and would require little or no modification to serve as a terminal. The other sites would require extensive and expensive construction. 

Kamen said extensive parking already present at the Marina would mean no additional parking would be required at that site, another potential cost savings. 

WTA Executive Officer Steven Castleberry told the commission that the environmental review of sites in the Berkeley area would include all three locations, but said a recommendation from the Berkeley City Council would carry weight in the final selection. 

Berkeley and Albany are vying for the first new WTA terminal in the East Bay. Complicating the selection of an Albany site is that city’s recent decision to consider expanded dock operations for Toyota Motors import operations at the preferred site in Marina Bay. 

“We do not plan to do both Berkeley/Albany and Richmond,” Castleberry told the commission. “Measure 2 funds currently allow for only one.” That measure, passed by Bay Area voters last year, increased bridge tolls to fund public transportation projects. 

Commission Chair Rob Wrenn said he wouldn’t support the Waterfront Commission recommendation without a similar site review by his panel. 

Castleberry said he was “a little worried” of going ahead without a recommendation, noting that any review would cover all the sites, “but if there’s a preferred site, the review usually throws a little more money behind it.”u

Plans for the new David Brower Center and Oxford Plaza affordable housing complex will be presented at both the City of Berkeley Planning Commission and the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB) this week. 

The project consists of two buildings—one housing environmental organizations and the other housing low-income tenants. 

Planning commissioners Wednesday will consider proposed amendments to the city’s Downtown Plan that would allow the buildings to add two additional floors above the three-story limit now imposed along Oxford/Fulton Street facing the UC Berkeley Campus. 

Planning commissioners are also being asked to provide comments on the project’s proposed mitigated negative declaration, an environmental document that spells out remedies for adverse impacts likely to arise from the project. 

The commission is also scheduled to act on zoning amendments that would ease permitting thresholds for home-based teaching and an update to the housing element of the General Plan. 

The commission meeting begins at 7 p.m. in the North Berkeley Senior Center, 1901 Hearst Ave. 

Preceding the meeting at 6:30 p.m. will be a joint workshop of the Planning and Parks and Recreation Commissions on the Gilman Street ball fields and proposed amendments to the Specific Plan Zoning District and the Waterfront Plan required before the project can be developed. 

The Brower Center appears on Thursday night’s ZAB agenda only as an informational item to give the board a preview of the project they’ll be voting on later. 

Items appearing on ZAB action agenda include a final vote on a controversial three-story “popup” condominium project at 2901 Otis St., an addition to a home at 2235 Derby St., and a proposal for a cellular phone antenna at 611 Hearst Ave. 

ZAB members will also get a preview of revised plans for a 29-unit five-story condominium project at 2701 Shattuck Ave. and are being asked to advise planning staff about a duplex and cottage project planned for 1532 Martin Luther King. Jr. Way. 

The ZAB meeting begins at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, 2134 Martin Luther King Jr. Way.

A June 3 story, “Health Officer Charges Department With Misuse of Public Funds,” reported the following: “Berkeley has a track record of misappropriating public health money. In 2000, the city had to backfill the public health reserve fund $2.4 million after the state determined that since 1993 Berkeley had illegally used the money to pay for other city expenses.” In fact, there was never an allegation from the state Department of Health and Human Services of either misappropriation or illegal use of funds. The state agency asked the city to redeposit state funds from its General Fund to a special health fund for accounting purposes.

http://www.jfdefreitas.com/index.php?path=/00_Latest%20Work?

DRAYAGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I have read in the Berkeley Daily Planet that the 24 residential rental units at the Drayage are not residential rental units because they weren’t “legally established.” It is unfortunate that 24 residential dwelling units, occupied by real people for over two decades, are to be afforded no legitimate legal status by the city’s planning-building-zoning-housing departments. Since when has it been city policy to destroy affordable live/work artist housing, not to mention devastate a community that has contributed so much to Berkeley over the years?  

Tom Meyer 

• 

RAILROAD 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Just a quick note, Conductors on the railroad don’t blow the horn, engineers do. A conductor is basically along for the ride unless there is a need to pick up or drop off railcars in route to their destination. Good article about train whistles, just can’t understand why people build next to or near train tracks. Much like when people complain about speeding cars in their neighborhood and ask police to shoot radar, statistically the individuals who get caught speeding are the same ones that called to complain in the first place. But with the railroad and whistle complaints it is usually the same people who complain that end up illegally going around crossing gates when a train comes, and get hit, then in court they testify that the engineer didn’t blow the whistle enough for them to realize that a train was coming, resulting in millions paid out every year to so-called victims of crossing accidents. Don’t get me wrong, I may work for the railroad but I do not necessarily defend them, but in this day and age an ever-increasing number of civil and criminal suits in these crossing accidents are filed. The train crew are the ones that are being sued. When the high-priced railroad lawyers beat the so-called “victims” in court they look to the crew of the train to fill their pockets. Personally I think if you bought a house next to the airport, railroad tracks, fire station, etc., that you must have had a terrible realtor who led you there in the first place, or you did not research the area well before spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a home without really knowing where it is that you were about to live. I challenge you to do the following: Do a Google news search everyday and see what the two main headlines are concerning railroads. Here is what you will find. The number one railroad-related news in the media is railroad crossing accidents, the number two is residents complaining about loud whistles and proposed “quiet zones.” All I can say is, take responsibility for what you do; if you move in next to the tracks don’t complain about the noise; and if you go around crossing gates and get hit, don’t blame the railroad, or its employees (that is, should you live). 

Dick Ehrhardt 

• 

TRAIN WHISTLES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I didn’t respond at first to Linda Maio’s proposal to silence the West Berkeley trains because I couldn’t stop laughing. Apparently she is serious about spending scarce public funds to destroy one of the most beloved sounds in the world. 

This town does nothing about enforcing the laws against gas-powered leaf-blowers, which would cost us nothing and even make money off the considerable fines. If noise pollution is an honest concern, start there. But don’t interfere with the West Berkeley train songs without a hearing, so that all points of view can be heard. While some may be bothered, most, including me, would miss them terribly. 

Carol Denney 

• 

KPFA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

If Alan Wofsy wants to publicly rant against both the old and new Left (Letters, June 14) that’s his choice. But let him be aware that strong emotions alone do not a persuasive argument make. They create instead a form of village gossip based on a wall of sound.  

Wofsy tries to discredit the woman who filed sexual harassment charges against Bernstein by stating that she “devotes her time...to propaganda on behalf of a notorious cop killer.” This is no more than a smear. Based on it, are we then to conclude that her harassment charges are invalid?  

True, Mumia Abu Jamal was convicted of killing a policeman but he’s still innocent, based on facts Wofsy tunes out: the four eyewitnesses who cleared Mumia, the forensic evidence that discredits the prosecution’s case, the repudiated confessions, and the bullets that don’t match the bullet holes.  

Wofsy has thus become part of that groupmind where facts are of no consequence compared to passionately held, unproven opinions.  

Wofsy’s last slingshot is that KPFA is undermining America, apparently by airing views he disagrees with. The O’Reilly virus strikes again.  

Lastly, what Wofsy has demonstrated is that he’s one angry dude. He may want to Google the proper target for his rancor.  

Maris Arnold  

• 

CITY BUDGET 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

The City of Berkeley is doing it again! Year after year, the safety and welfare of the citizens of Berkeley have repeatedly been disregarded by a majority of members of the City Council as well as the city manager during the budget period by threatening to cut the heart of vital basic services, in this case, fire safety and emergency services. Is this a deliberate attempt by the City Council and the city manager to force its citizens to adhere to increased taxes? 

If this is the city’s way of dealing with the budget deficit, then why is the source of the structural deficit being ignored? Over 60 percent of the deficit is due to rising costs of employee salaries and benefits. Health insurance costs are rising by 18.5 percent a year. The council chose to ignore the recommendation of the now defunct Citizens’ Budget Review Commission (the first commission to be axed) to transfer the 8.4 percent share of retirement costs to its employees. Employee costs are projected to rise at a much faster rate than city income (general fund is projected to increase at only 2-4 percent per year) and unless the city deals with this issue, essential city services will be threatened year after year. 

I question the manner in which the city gives it priorities to public services. While public safety is being threatened, the following projects are being given priority: 

• $120,000 for equipment for Train Horn. 

• $80,000 for Berkeley guides. 

• $50,000 for bike path fence. 

• $61,148 for start-up money for real-time parking signs. 

• $30,000 for solar bond funding match. 

• $300,000 technology investment for customer service improvement. 

I can go on and on about different programs which the city can no longer afford but insists on having by passing the burden to the citizens of Berkeley. With only half of its property owners paying property taxes, why is the city bent on further burdening its taxpayers instead of looking at ways of cutting unnecessary programs, streamlining its operations and increasing city income? 

Cecilia I. Gaerlan 

Co-Captain 

Shasta-Sterling Neighborhood Group 

• 

SIMILARITIES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

In the debate over Oakland’s sideshows, has anyone recognized the similarities between the sideshow phenomena and Critical Mass? Both events involve marginalized people using whatever means are at hand to retake some public space, have fun, meet new people and enjoy the good weather. It may seem a stretch to compare African-American youth with no space in the entire city of Oakland to poor bicyclists squeezed out and hated by motorists, but the similarities are there. 

Sideshows and Critical Mass are both leaderless but self-organizing, spontaneous but predictable, fun, alt-community events with political overtones that threaten to keep youthful rebellion alive. Both phenomena are confusing and frightening to the uninitiated and both make demands for breathing room in the public arena. 

The other similarity is the way the media, the police and city are reacting to sideshows; very much like the way the San Francisco mayor and police behaved when confronted with Critical Mass. First, they ignored us, then they tried to control us, then for a while they facilitated the ride, then they tried to fight us by cracking heads, impounding bikes and making mass arrests, then they got over themselves and went back to helping the ride pass through unmolested, like any other civic nuisance that mucks up public streets on any given day. And though it still goes on every month in a town near you, unless you’ve been stuck in it, you haven’t heard much about Critical Mass in years, because the shock value has waned and the media has moved on to the latest menace du jour like sideshows and terrorist preschoolers. 

Perhaps we should think outside the mayor’s box. 

Hank Chapot 

• 

ROSE GROCERY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I write to note a couple of omissions in your story regarding the condominiums which have risen behind the old Rose Grocery. 

First, I recall a decade ago when affordable housing developers proposed renovating the site to provide housing to low-income people living with HIV. Living several blocks from the grocery, I served at that time on a Neighborhood Advisory Board along with some of the good people who have helped realize this new iteration. It is worth pausing to contrast the unbridled enthusiasm for “luxurious townhouses”—for which the Landmarks Preservation Commission “received 37 letters from neighbors in support and none in opposition”—with the often bitter neighborhood opposition to affordable housing units for people in need. 

Second, I was surprised to learn this weekend that former Zoning Adjustments Board member and current City Councilmember Laurie Capitelli—“who helped expedite what could have been a very lengthy process”—is listed at the property as one of the sellers’ real estate agents. If the Daily Planet story is accurate, it is dispiriting to see a public official poised to benefit directly from a local development project in which he had a direct hand in promoting. 

Although no one can lament the rehabilitation of the neglected property, these omissions from your story offer a cautionary tale about the future of our city. In a culture of increasing wealth disparity, self-interest—whether by our neighbors or our elected officials—will continue to drive decisions that over time risk diminishing and impoverishing us all. 

Jeff Selbin 

• 

WATER SOURCES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Bruce Joffe seems singularly uninformed about his own water supply. If, as stated in his letter, he lives in Piedmont, his “sweetest, cleanest drinking water of anyplace on the planet” is supplied by the East Bay Municipal Utility District from the Pardee Reservoir on the Mokelumne River and not from Hetch Hetchy at all. And the same is true of Berkeley, Oakland, and Richmond. It seems that Mr. Joffe is simply looking for an excuse for his ad hominem attack on “Environmental Defense people.” 

Gene Rochlin 

• 

ANIMAL SHELTER 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As far as I know, there is only one person in Berkeley who regards making any further cuts to the Berkeley Animal Shelter budget as in any way acceptable, and that’s the city manager, who demanded a 10 percent cut in spite of the fact that the shelter has been losing a staff member per year for several years. (If the ratio of police officers to Berkeley residents were similar to the ratio of Animal Shelter employees to companion animals, Berkeley would have about three police officers.) Presented with the city manager’s demand, Shelter Director Katherine O’Connor told him that she would have to cut either one kennel attendant, one animal control officer, or the volunteer coordinator position, and that, forced to make a choice, she would choose to cut the animal control officer position, because that would be the choice least damaging to the welfare of the animals housed at the shelter. This is because there is one basic reason for the difference between the Oakland Animal Shelter’s 54 percent kill rate for shelter animals and the Berkeley Shelter’s 10 percent kill rate: volunteers! There are at present more than 1,000 volunteers, more than 300 of whom are active volunteers. More than 35 new volunteers are recruited and trained by the volunteer coordinator every other week. The average weekly time put in by volunteers, June through November 2004, amounted to 230 hours per week. In December 2004 that number jumped to 418 hours per week. 

The volunteer coordinator works 40-50 hours per week turning this huge volunteer workforce into a productive reality. She supervises and supports dog walkers and cat socializers who keep animals adoptable and make them more so because animals are given human contact and positive reinforcement. (Imagine the impact of someone—or no one—visiting you while you serve a prison sentence.) She assesses animals that come into the shelter and prepares them for exposure to potential adopters, organizes and mobilizes offsite adoption events that attract hundreds of members of the public every weekend and result in adoptions that would never happen if the animals weren’t visible in this way, counsels potential adopters in every adoption, so that the choice is appropriate and permanent, creates shelter events and makes them happen, in order to supplement the shelter budget, coordinates website postings (an essential tool for adoptions today,) manages the Youth Education program, and performs various other duties. 

When I asked Director O’Connor what would happen if the loss of one animal control officer position resulted in a one day per week closure of the shelter, she said that while it would definitely be a bad situation, it would have nowhere near the deleterious effect on the welfare of shelter animals as the loss of the volunteer coordinator position, and it would occur on a weekday if it happened, and it would never result in animals being deprived of basic care. A different opinion was expressed in a recommendation put forward by Councilmember Dona Spring at the June 14 City Council meeting, that “it will be less detrimental to cut the volunteer coordinator position rather than an animal control officer position.” Ms. Spring, who never goes near the Animal Shelter and has no training or experience that suits her to express an opinion so much at variance with the shelter director’s opinion, had received so many angry e-mails from volunteers by June 14 that she had already backed off and amended her original position by that evening’s council meeting. I expect to join other volunteers at the June 21 council meeting to voice our disagreement with Dona Spring, and our opinion that a “volunteer volunteer coordinator” is an unrealizable fantasy. But I hope to be joined by large numbers of readers of the Daily Planet—perhaps that more than two-thirds of Berkeley who voted for Measure I and 7.2 million dollars for a new animal shelter in November 2002—who may still persuade the City Council to vote against any further cuts tot he shelter at all! 

Chadidjah McFallU

Still reeling from the news of the City Council majority’s secret sell-out to the university, I opened the June 20 Nation and read that Berkeley is part of an “urban archipelago” of “progressive cities in a conservative sea.” According to John Nichols’ cover story, progressive agendas, blocked at the federal and state levels, are being advanced in municipal venues around the country. 

The locales Nichols has in mind are “major metropolitan centers, aging industrial cities and college towns.” For example, Lawrence, Kansas, (population 88,000). On April 5, when 70 percent of the statewide electorate voted to make same-sex marriage illegal in Kansas, “progressives swept every open post in Lawrence,” including the mayor’s office. 

New mayor Dennis Highberger has gotten Lawrence to officially condemn the Patriot Act. But, Nichols hastens to add, Highberger spends most of his time on “mundane municipal issues like funding library services,…buying new land for park space.” With the support of “Progressive Lawrence—a local group that two years ago wrested power from more conservative, pro-development forces,” Highberger and other officials “have focused on implementing ’smart growth’ strategies to prevent sprawl, working with local employees to improve delivery of services and promoting tolerance in a state where that can be controversial.” 

Closer to home, in Irvine, former mayor, now councilmember, Larry Agran “and his progressive allies have developed pioneering programs in childcare, affordable housing, recycling and open-space preservation, most notably undoing plans by developers to turn a former Marine Corps base into an international airport.” Stretching from the mountains to the Pacific, the ex-base will become the largest metropolitan park (7,400 acres) in the nation. 

Other cities have passed living-wage laws and instituted publicly financed elections. One hundred thirty-four mayors have agreed to pursue at the local level the Kyoto Protocol’s goal of reducing greenhouse emissions. And two nationwide organizations have sprung up to support progressives at the local level—Cities for Progress, which will seek to influence national policy through the joint efforts of communities and local officials, and the New Cities conference of mayors. 

Berkeley gets only a nod in Nichols’ story. The first New Cities meeting, in February, he writes, “drew mayors from Milwaukee, Salt Lake City, Berkeley and nine other cities.” That’s it. 

But what else would you expect? Progressive Lawrence and Irvine are newsworthy; progressive Berkeley rates a yawn. Ever since the Free Speech Movement coalesced in Sproul Plaza 40 years ago, this town has symbolized cutting edge liberalism to the world at large. 

The question is, does Berkeley still deserve its reputation as a liberal bastion? 

The answer may not be obvious. Last November Berkeley gave John Kerry the highest percentage of votes (90 percent) of any city with a majority of white residents, and the third highest (coming behind Detroit at 94 percent and Gary at 92 percent) of any city, period. 

At the same time, Berkeley voters turned down four city tax measures. The San Francisco Chronicle’s editorial writers saw the defeat of municipal taxes here and elsewhere in the Bay Area as “conservative strains” in our deep blue bailiwick. 

As far as Berkeley is concerned, that’s a superficial reading. I’m somebody whom the Daily Planet once characterized, fairly or not, as “a member of Berkeley’s progressive establishment.” Last fall I voted with the majority against city taxes. I wasn’t voting against “guvmint” or against new taxes per se (I voted for the school tax, again with the majority). I was voting against the particular government that’s currently installed in City Hall. I wanted to send a message to Mayor Bates and City Manager Kamlarz: I don’t like the way you’re running this town. I know many other Berkeleyans who call themselves progressives who did the same thing for the same reason. 

Even before the Bates-led debacle of the UC settlement, it had become clear that the electoral gesture of no-confidence didn’t get across. Since last November, actions undertaken by the mayor and City Council in concert with city staff and/or city commissioners—the mind-boggling reconfiguration of Marin Avenue; the approval of Jeremy’s admittedly illegal expansion on College Avenue; the approval of the nine-story Seagate project on Center, which violated the city’s General Plan, Downtown Core zoning ordinance and affordable housing laws; the insidious attacks on the West Berkeley Plan; the pathetic community budget process—all indicated that the leadership at City Hall had actually become more high-handed than ever. 

Now, the council majority’s capitulation to the university leaves no doubt about what Tom Bates and his allies stand for: closed government, secret deals, deregulated development, pandering to power and spin spin spin. 

The worst thing about the settlement with UC is that it cuts citizens out of the planning process and effectively gives the Regents veto power over downtown Berkeley’s future (See Section II of the settlement at www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

mayor/PR/UCAgreement.pdf). The school’s charter from the state already exempts it from municipal land use laws. It was unconscionable for the mayor and council to surrender the city’s control over non-UC development in downtown as well. It may also be illegal. 

Today, Berkeley is a city of progressives governed by men and women who have scant respect for a principle that progressives, i.e., democrats with a small d, hold dear: people should have a meaningful say in the decisions that affect their lives. How ironic—and painful—that at a time when progressive politics are gaining momentum in cities around the country, Berkeley has moved in the opposite direction. 

In November 2006 Tom Bates will be up for re-election. So will two of the five councilmembers who okayed the UC deal, Linda Maio and Gordon Wozniak. Between then and now, the paramount task is to see to it that next time we elect a mayor and councilmembers who will govern in accordance with Berkeley’s proudly democratic history and character.

Prolific local writer Meredith Maran has added another tome to her long list of writing accomplishments, this time in the form of anthology: 50 Ways To Support Lesbian & Gay Equality (Inner Ocean Publishing, 165 pages, $14.95). Subtitled “The Complete Guide to Supporting Family, Friends-or Yourself,” its short and snappy personal essays are accompanied by tip sheets listing commonsense advice and a myriad of LGBT resources.  

Co-edited by Angela Watrous, 50 Ways To Support Lesbian & Gay Equality showcases fifty authors, including many local residents such as filmmaker Johnny Symons, Colorlines editor Daisy Hernandez , and writer/counselor Renate Stendhal. Also voicing opinions are renowned activists, among them Judy Shepard (mother of slain gay college student Matthew Shepard and Executive Director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation), Margaret Cho (comedian), Candace Gingrich (sister of Newt, and Youth Outreach Manager for the Human Rights Campaign), Jerry Greenfield (cofounder of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade), Rebecca Walker (author of Black, White and Jewish), Kelli O’Donnell (wife of Rosie, and founder of R Family Vacations) and William F. Schulz (Executive Director of Amnesty International).  

In Montclair last week, I caught several of the authors and Maran in discussion at the intimate and wonderfully energetic independent bookstore, A Great Good Place for Books. Starting with a flamboyant lip sync performance by Diva Dan, the agenda included brief talks by attorney Emily Doskow, who specializes in same-sex couple adoption, Joel Ginsberg, executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, and Leland Traiman, founder of Rainbow Flag Health Services, the only gay sperm bank in the world, located right here in Alameda County. Like the anthology, these writer-activists offered a kaleidoscope of information including how to deal with the straight world, and where to get help with LBGT concerns. But what made their talks most relevant were their personal stories, which, as in 50 Ways To Support Lesbian & Gay Equality, puts a human face on the difficult issues faced by the LBGT community. Traiman recounted his husband’s mother’s inability to accept the children they are raising; Diva Dan explained what it’s like to grow up a boy wanting to wear a dress in Tennessee; Maran told of the eight years she and her sons were estranged from her father. These stories and the dozens of others in this collection are poignant, concise and refreshingly unsentimental. 

For example, the “Value Families Like Mine” essay by “queerspawn,” (birth through donor insemination to two proud and open moms), Nathaniel Obler, spokesperson for Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere (COLAGE), encourages readers to take a look at this “ever-growing community that is adding a new, younger, and--if I do say so myself--cuter face to the gay community.” 

Thea Hillman discusses intersex issues in an essay entitled “Put the ‘I’ in Pride,” Victoria Neilson—in “Demand Immigration Equality”—explains why immigration laws need to be changed, C. Dixon Osburn sheds light on don’t ask, don’t tell military policies in “Ask, Tell.” “Advocate for Our Elders,” by Scott J. Hamilton, explores the growing senior LBGT population, and “Keep the Faith,” by Reverend Dr. Troy D. Perry, champions spiritual pursuits through the Metropolitan Community Churches.  

I plan to keep 50 Ways to Support Lesbian & Gay Equality within easy reach on my bookshelf. I’ll review some of the films recommended by Diane Anderson-Minshall in Watch Movies about LGBT Life, research classes to take and books to read as suggested by Arlene Stein in “Study Something Queer,” and educate my teenage friends and relatives on the proper use of the word gay as explained by Debra Chasnoff in “Talk to Children about LGBT People: It’s Elementary.” And I’ll heed the sage advice of Diva Dan in “Walk a Mile in My Heels” not to “hate us because we’re beautiful. Love us because we’re fabulous.” 

Meredith Maran and several of the authors from 50 Ways to Support Lesbian & Gay Equality will appear at the San Francisco Main Library July 7. For more information go to www.meredithmaran.com. 

I recently attended a meeting of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR), on the topic of mixed-use infill development in Berkeley, hosted by Berkeley Planning Director Dan Marks and Planning Manager Mark Rhoades—a truly enlightening experience.  

Early in the presentation, Mr. Marks casually stated that Berkeley’s building boom is “a disaster for small landlords” (due to the vacancies), yet he spent the rest of the hour cheerleading for massive development. I’m baffled. Small landlords are actual living people, a group which pays a disproportionate share of taxes and fees, and therefore contributes disproportionately to Berkeley’s revenue.  

Nonetheless, our Planning and Development Department continues to “incentivize” huge projects by national corporations, such as the subsidiary of real estate investment giant, Marcus and Millichap, currently seeking to demolish the Brennan’s and Celia’s buildings, and SNK Captec Arpeggio LLC, which has purchased the project formerly known as “Seagate.” Yet, incredibly, Marks claimed that Berkeley is being developed by “home-grown folks” who know the local market.  

Hmm, I don’t think so. At a meeting about the Brennan’s demolition project, the corporation’s representative said that two-bedroom apartments in the planned building would rent for up to $2,600 per month. However, one can now rent a three-bedroom cottage—with a dining room and yard—for much less than that, inspiring little confidence that this company has a clue about our rental market. 

Why would a planning director encourage national corporations to perform needless construction, which he admits is disastrous for local small property owners? For the tax revenue? But each of the big projects is owned by a limited liability corporation (LLC), so the buildings can be sold, under some circumstances, without generating a property transfer tax and without triggering a higher assessed value (see “Building LLCs Present Tax Collection Problems”, Daily Planet, May 6).  

Furthermore, “limited liability” means that if the project gets into debt, or fails, none of the corporate owners risks anything more than his initial investment. Rents have indeed dropped—vacancies have dramatically increased—and some of the new buildings are proving to be rather costly to maintain. Do these projects have a viable future? Does it make sense to add more of the same to an already glutted market? 

Unfortunately, Marks is not the only department head who appears to be working for love of construction rather than for the people of Berkeley. The partners of Seagate Properties, Inc. never seemed very interested in their nine-story zoning violation proposed for downtown. The rumor was that they wanted to secure the approvals and “flip” the property. At the Zoning Adjustments Board hearing of Oct. 14, 2004, no one from the company even bothered to show up! No problem—the project had Housing Director Steve Barton to speak on its behalf.  

Barton extolled the virtues of the luxury units in the plan, and the level of seismic reinforcement that might be performed. Curiously, he also brought up the financial risk involved in such projects, saying, “…and if they lose their shirts, the city will have gained even if the developers lost.” I wrote to him Jan. 10 of this year, inquiring how he thought the city might gain from failed developments, but I’ve yet to receive a reply. 

So, our well-paid department directors are encouraging a disaster for real home-grown folks (small landlords), while empowering corporations to demolish our local businesses (Brennan’s, Celia’s, and many others) for needless massive construction. Why are the concerned citizens of Berkeley allowing this to continue? 

Gale Garcia is Berkeley resident.?

Matthew Artz makes it appear as though “a truce has been achieved in the war between labor and management” (“Library Budget Spares Jobs, Sunday Hours,” Daily Planet, June 10). As a member of Super Berkeleyans Organizing for Library Defense (SuperBOLD), I can report that the fight has only just begun.  

We have two major battles: One is our demand for the cancellation of the radio frequency identification (RFID) contract and removal of the RFID tags; the other is achieving a fully staffed library with union benefits for all. SuperBOLD believe in unions, decent wages, decent benefits, health care for workers, especially in the Bay Area where it is notoriously difficult to make ends meet. 

Mr. Artz jumped to the conclusion that SuperBOLD has joined forces with other organizations. Because speakers come from other organizations to support our position about the Library Tax, does not mean that we have joined forces with them.  

We are asking that the City Council support a Library Tax increase only on condition that the RFID is stopped dead in its tracks and the tags removed. We are opposed to the tax being used to pay for updating this new technology every few years, to pay for a new batch of radio frequency chips for the new books, videos, CDs, DVDs, and magazines as they come in, and to pay for endless tweaking and repairs that RFID will require. For example, I’ve noticed that tags are being put on magazines. Will the tags be thrown out with the discarded magazines?  

We witness the lack of concern for the workers at our libraries (too much work for too few workers; morale is at an all-time low), the lack of concern for resources—especially books (some 20,000 books were tossed in dumpsters just to save the 50 cents for each RFID chip), and the rush to put this new technology in before we were even aware of what was happening. Now the Board of Library Trustees has postponed the June 20 community forum on RFID.  

I recommend that the Library Tax increase be spent on books and materials for the citizens of Berkeley and on the humans who interact with us, teach our children how to use the library, and put the books away. 

I am amazed that Mr. Artz could actually write the following: “...after months of union leaders bashing Berkeley Library Director Jackie Griffin.” The Board of Library Trustees (BOLT) had to be pushed by community and workers at the BOLT meetings to listen to what union stewards and leaders were trying to say. Director Griffin doesn’t appear to pay attention to speakers from the library board meeting audience, whether they be union, library users, or library workers.  

Corporate welfare tactics of co-opting taxpayers to fund public testing of undeveloped technology while reducing the staffing of our tax-funded libraries are not acceptable to SuperBOLD nor to the residents of Berkeley. Almost 1,000 people have signed our petition requesting that RFID be removed from our libraries. The director has taken out a loan of $500,000 via the City of Berkeley to pay for the RFID system. The existing system was working perfectly well. There were no repetitive stress injuries at all last year, yet this was one of the major arguments for buying this system. When the loan was taken, it was clear that the library would be in the red about $650,000 for the technology alone. The budget cuts were going to have to come from somewhere after they committed to the expense. We will be paying $55,000 just in interest on this loan. Future expenses will be exponentially greater; this is the rule of new technologies; they don’t actually make our goods and services cheaper—but they do line the pockets of the technology-mongers.  

The wisest immediate action is to cut our losses and get rid of the technology and trappings of RFID before we end up in a real mess, with our libraries understaffed, not enough money to buy new books, and the technology not working. Any Library Tax increase should be used to preserve our great libraries, not to reduce labor costs! If RFID is not stopped and the Library Tax increase is passed, the money will be spent to pay for batches of RFID chips and to update and repair this untested technology rather than to hire enough library workers to make the job bearable for them and useful for us and our children and for great library materials.  

Come to our rally on Tuesday, June 21 at 6 p.m. at Old City Hall and then stay to speak at the budget hearing!  

Jane Welford is a member of Super Berkeleyans Organizing for Library Defense.

I was recently at a meeting in the City of Berkeley where a conversation started regarding the Berkeley City Council’s 8-1 decision to review the background of vendors to see if they had any connection to slavery in the United States. Some people thought this was ridiculous… “You see, slavery was so long ago.” Some said, “The council should spend its time on more important issues.” I thought about, “Why my name is Burton.” 

During the Civil War my great grandfather Luke was a slave on the Upsher Plantation near the Eastern Shore in Virginia. He had brothers named Gorge, John, Bill and several sisters whose names I never knew. They all shared the last name Upsher, after the master of the plantation to whom none were actually related. Well, during the Civil War Luke ran away, and when the war was over he returned to the Eastern Shore and reunited with his brother and their families. They lived in towns named Exmore, Ha’Valley and Nasawadax. They became farmers, merchants, fishermen and even school teachers. Yet there was one big difference between Luke and his siblings. When Luke returned after the Civil War his brothers were still called Upsher, but his last name was now Burton. My grandfather, Luke’s son, told me and my brother this story when I was about 8 years old. We asked my grandfather and grandmother where did he get the name Burton. They said it was probably from someone he had befriended or someone who had helped him.  

For years we thought about great grandpa Luke fighting in the Civil War, saving lives and claiming his own name. During the 1960s, when many African Americans were rejecting their “slave master” names and picking their own last names (like X) my brothers and I were proud that Luke had already picked a name for us, and fought in the war to legitimize his birthright.  

Around 1925, my grandfather, Berkely Burton (his real name) traveled north from Virginia looking for work. He always said if he hadn’t fell asleep, and fallen off of that pickup truck in Philly, we would all have been New Yorkers. He settled in Philadelphia and eventually sent for his wife, two sons and a daughter who were still in Virginia. His youngest son, Clifton, was my father.  

In 1989 at my 40th birthday party in Philly I was delighted that my great aunt, several other aunts and various cousins could attend. Some of them still had the last name of Upsher and came from the same small towns in Virginia. We sat around and talked about old times and the subject came up: why my name is Burton. My brother and I told our version how our great grandpa Luke fought in the Civil War and claimed his own name and identity. My great aunt Prescila, who was 96 at the time, kind of smiled and said in a soft voice, “The way I heard it was that after Luke ran away, he was soon recaptured and spent the remainder of the war as a slave on the Burton plantation.”  

Somehow, sitting in that meeting in Berkeley, it all didn’t seem so long ago. And to the Burtons and the Upshers, it’s still an issue. 

Winston “Upsher” Burton is a Berkeley resident. 

n

In November 2004 the residents of Berkeley sent the City Council a loud message:  

• The city’s budget can be balanced without increasing taxes and fees.  

• Essential services should not be targeted for budget cuts.  

• City staff and non-profits (55 percent of Berkeley’s landowners) must pitch in to balance the budget.  

What does the proposed budget have in store for us?  

• Multiple fee increases beyond the cost of living.  

• Reduced services in police, fire and public works. 

• More sidestepping of budgetary structural issues in favor of pet projects.  

Why should we be saddled with “more of the same” poor fiscal management when there are plenty of opportunities to do things right? 

City Revenues More Than Adequate 

Berkeleyans have the highest tax/fee burden in the state, with a median income of only $44,485.  

The city is experiencing windfall revenues. In the first nine months of fiscal year 2005, transfer tax revenues went up $10.5 million, 38 percent more than last year. The city can expect a minimum of $15 million in increased revenue from vehicle license fee and transfer tax sources alone. Property tax revenues are up 7.7 percent versus last year. 

Sewer fees are ridiculously high. Annual sewer fees for an average single-family home in Alameda are $162, Albany $245, El Cerrito $111, Hayward $79, Oakland $176, and San Leandro $104. The average house in Berkeley pays $400 -- over four times as much as Hayward! Berkeley’s sewer fees increased by 5 percent last year and are proposed for further increases of 3 percent annually through the end of the decade. Refuse fees were increased 5 percent last year, and are proposed to be increased by 8 percent this year and 20 percent the year after that. All of the above municipalities except Berkeley, can maintain and replace their sewer systems. 

Missed Opportunities 

Berkeley has the highest number of city workers in proportion to our population: It takes 66 residents to support one employee. Berkeley’s staffing ratio is 50 percent higher than Alameda and Oakland, the next most staff-heavy municipalities. Salary and benefit costs make up more than three-fourths of the city’s budget. It makes sense to look for savings in this area. None of the following suggestions from residents have been adopted:  

• Reinstate the one-day-off a month for non-essential staff.  

• Have staff contribute toward their retirement programs.  

• Have staff contribute toward their rapidly rising health care costs--18.5 percent annually. 

• Reduce excessive salary increases.  

• Reorganize and restructure city departments for greater efficiencies and cost savings (Berkeley is overstaffed compared to anywhere else).  

• Eliminate the YMCA benefit.  

Many nonprofits in Berkeley receive a free ride. Residents proposed “payments in lieu of taxes” or PILOT fees, for the major players, but so far the city has sold out the residents. Recent negotiations with the university have resulted in a locked-in subsidy from Berkeley residents to UC, because UC’s payments don’t come close to covering the cost of city services provided. This is a $177 million giveaway! The average Berkeley household will subsidize the university by $750 per year. Once the university’s Long-Range Development Plan takes effect, UC will remove 30 city blocks from the tax rolls to create 2.5 million square feet—the size of the Empire State Building!—of space that requires city services but pays no taxes. Within 10 years each Berkeley household will be subsidizing the university at an average of $1,000 per year! 

The second-largest landlord in Berkeley is the University Students Cooperative Association. They have net revenues of approximately $1 million annually, and cost the city approximately $200,000 annually in calls for city services. PILOT Fees should be negotiated with the USCA. 

Misplaced Priorities 

Cuts are being made in exactly the wrong places. Partly this is done from cynical motives. If the city targets essential services for cuts (instead of pet programs), it thinks residents will be willing to pay higher taxes, because residents will want to protect essential services. Some examples: The proposed budget reduces the police force by seven full-time employees (FTE). Berkeley has the fourth-highest crime rate in the state when it comes to rape, robbery, burglary, and personal assaults—higher than Oakland, San Jose, Los Angeles or San Francisco.  

The proposed budget reneges on the city’s pledge to restore a fire truck shift, even though the Fire Department found $300,000 in internal savings just for this purpose. City leaders agreed that the truck would be reinstated June 1 for the start of the fire season, but it didn’t happen.  

Park maintenance/landscape staff were reduced by six FTE last year and three FTE this year.  

The city clerk’s office will have a reduction of one FTE, which will reduce the support provided for public access to actions on the City Council agenda. The proposed budget eliminates all support for festivals and fairs, which improve revenue and economic development, not to mention our quality of life. Is Scrooge running the City Council? 

Things are looking up for the library with increases of more than twice the Bay Area cost of living index. They remain closed on Sunday, so why doesn’t the additional support translate into additional services?  

More Roads Not Taken 

The city continues to sell off real property for a pittance, rather than lease unused land. There is no discernible strategy to increase sales and business tax revenues by becoming a business friendly city, including revitalizing the business districts on Telegraph, Shattuck and University. Customers need to find parking spaces to increase the commercial base. 

Good fiscal policy includes eliminating the $160 million in unfunded liability and increasing the city’s reserve from 6 percent to 13 percent (average reserve rate in Alameda County). 

Balancing the budget via fee increases shows not just managerial laziness, but outright disrespect for the will of the electorate given November’s results. Residents are stretched financially, while the city is receiving windfalls. The City Council needs to develop a sustainable budget, with sound fiscal policies and priorities, that meet resident expectations and is fair to all. 

Marie Bowman is a member of Berkeleyans Against Soaring Taxes (BASTA). 

Going up the steps from Van Ness into the lobby of San Francisco’s War Memorial Opera House for the opening of Georges Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers, past the big floral displays and into the cavernous auditorium, looking up beyond the boxes, the grand tier (beautifully garlanded with white flowers and foliage) and the balcony, I thought of a comment by Bizet’s older contemporary, poet Charles Baudelaire: “The real hero in any theater is the chandelier”—an immense sunburst of glass and light. 

The ornateness of the Opera House, which opened with Tosca in 1932, and opera’s “snobbish” reputation as “high culture” can put off many who would enjoy what originally was an entertainment for the middle and lower classes. A great deal of the pleasure of opera comes from the mix of different elements. The orchestral music, singing, dance, scenery, costumes and lighting are usually more to the point than the plots, which can be a bit hard to take. But with a quick glance at the discreetly placed supertitle screen, where the breezy translations cut to the chase, it’s easy to follow the professions of eternal love, the angry throes of jealousy, the outcries of passion as they come along. 

And the Opera House is a show in itself. The variety of the crowd is always a surprise. On opening night tuxedos and gowns glide—or shuffle—past more casual dress, or unusual costumery bannering the occasion. Fashion designer Zandra Rhodes, whose neo-fauvist production design for The Pearl Fishers has caused a stir, stood out on the first night, even in this wild melange of style, in a splendid blue gown with her hair the set’s signature color of magenta (which some society columns glossed as “pink”). Swirling around at intermission, this audience would disabuse any notion of the stuffiness of opera. 

Some of the more fantastic get-ups are on the standees, who know the cheapest and most casual way to attend, at $10 cash per ticket, sold after 10 a.m. on the day of the performance. Standees flock to the balcony, where the view of the stage is at a steep angle, but the sound is believed to be the best in the house, or to the better sightlines in the dress circle or the orchestra. Some have been known to slip into empty seats after the first intermission.  

If the performance isn’t sold out, students ($15 cash), seniors and members of the military ($30, cards okay) can buy rush tickets after 11 on performance days. (Call the day before to find out if rush tickets will be available.) 

As the lights go down for Pearl Fishers, a gorgeous curtain, depicting Sri Lankan pearl divers on their platforms, goes up, revealing through the hazy gauze of a scrim live pearl fishers on their platforms above the waves in the background. Darkness falls; the figure of Zurga (British baritone William Dazeley in his San Francisco debut) steps forward impressively, brooding in a shaft of light. But darkness is dispelled by a tropical glow. Great palms and lush jungle foliage in bright colors, a little cartoonish as if clipped from a huge storybook, loom up at the wings. A crowd in sumptuous saris and turbans flows out singing, and a ballet of villagers begins. This is the kind of spectacle that makes grand opera particularly worth seeing in the big houses, which can put on such pageantry, keep a professional orchestra and chorus, and bring in the great voices. 

And the voices are wonderful in the famous duet, “Au Fond du Temple Saint,” when Zurga (who’s just been chosen headman of the pearl fishers) and his estranged childhood friend Nadir (tenor Charles Castronovo alumnus of San Francisco Opera’s Merola program) put aside differences and swear eternal friendship. Their bonds had been threatened by their mutual attraction to the beautiful Leila, seen at a temple in the city of Kandy. But, as fate would have it, a veiled virgin priestess carried in on a litter in great pomp now turns out to be none other than Leila (French coloratura soprano Norah Ansellem).  

That’s just the first act. From here on in, the plot tangles up with love, passion, jealousy, and betrayal, and also generosity and self-sacrifice. The ins and outs are marked with wonderfully lyrical singing, duets and solo arias, chorus as well as principals. There are splendid effects of sweet, floating sound when either chorus or Castronovo (a lyric tenor who can make the heart leap) sing from backstage, outside the temple where Leila retreats after singing prayers for the safety of the pearl divers on a cliff above the ocean, and receives a forbidden visit from Nadir.  

Dazeley’s presence is a study in operatic acting, an art by itself. His duets with both Castronovo and Ansellem are stirring, and his soul-searching, jealousy-tinged solo after intermission is a high point. Ansellem shows great technique and excitement. Though warm, the ovation given her at curtain call on opening night wasn’t enough of an acknowledgment. 

Bizet is more famous for Carmen, his last opera. Bizet’s supporters pumped up the score of Carmen to Grand Opera status to bring him recognition after his death at 37, giving the former “comic opera” overtones of a tour-de-force. Many opera lovers prefer the earlier Pearl Fishers (composed when Bizet was 24). In any case, it’s a worthy precursor to the more famous music and story of its illustrious gypsy successor. 

The Pearl Fishers runs through July 9 at the San Francisco Opera, 301 Van Ness Ave. at Grove St., San Francisco. For ticktets and showtimes, go to www.sfopera.com or call (415) 864-3330.›

TUESDAY, JUNE 21 

THEATER 

Shotgun Theater Lab “The Pawn” Tues. and Wed. at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through July 6. Tickets are $10. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

FILM 

Jean-Marie Teno “Africa, I will Fleece You” with the filmmaker in person at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Bob Laird, Director of Undergraduate Admissions at UCB, discusses his new book “The Case for Affirmative Action in University Admissions” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Gail Griffith describes “Will’s Choice: A Suicidal Teen, a Desperate Mother, and a Chronicle of Recovery” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Ronnie Gilbert at 1 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

Garden of Memory Solstice Concert with thirty diverse composers and musicians from 5 to 9 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $5-$10. 415-563-6355, ext. 3. 

San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers, traditional and contemporary Celtic music, at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Garnet Rogers at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50- $18.50. 548-1761.  

Brian Kane, jazz guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Jason Martineau, David Sayens Duo at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Jessica Williams Trio at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$20. 238-9200.  

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22 

EXHIBITIONS 

“From Isolation to Connection” works by artists with psychiatric disabilities at the Berkeley Art Center. Workshop with the curator and artists at 2 p.m. 644-6893. 

“Getting There” works by artists with disabilities and members of East Bay Women Artists. Reception at 6 p.m. at NIAD Art Center, 551 23rd St., Richmond. 620-0290. www.niad.org 

FILM 

Seventies Underground: “Space is the Place” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Music for the Spirit” harpsichord concert at noon at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555.  

Ned Boynton Trio at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

The Fourtet Jazz Group at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473.  

Calvin Keys Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Elijah Henry, Karen Geyser at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Julio Brava, salsa, at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Sonic Camouflage at 8 p.m. at Cafe Van Kleef, 1621 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 763-7711. 

Kurt Ribak Trio, CD release Party, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Jez Lowe & James Keelaghan at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Jessica Williams Trio at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$20. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, JUNE 23 

EXHIBITIONS 

“The People and the Book” A curator’s tour with Elayne Grossbard of paintings and rare books from the Magnes collection at 6:30 p.m. at the Judah L. Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Cost is $4-$6. 549-6950.  

FILM 

International Latino Film Festival “Step Forward” at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $8. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Jean-Maire Teno: “Chief!” with the filmmaker in person at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Nathaniel Rich will show video clips and talk about his new book “San Francisco Noir: The City in Film Noir from 1940 to the Present” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

John Dicker describes “The United States of Wal-Mart” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Word Beat Reading Series with Marianne Robinson, Randy Fingland and Sholeh Wolpe at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“The Beggar’s Opera” at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $56. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Carol Denney at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

The People’s Jazz Quintet with Donald “Duck” Bailey, drums, at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. 

The Twots, Riot A-Go-Go, The Sweet Nothings at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

Tin Cup Serenade at 9 p.m. at Cafe Van Kleef, 1621 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5. 763-7711. www.cafevankleef.com  

Katherine Peck, Crystal Eastman with Fil & Dave, alterna-folk, at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

Harvey Wainapel and Carlos Olivera at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Charles Lloyd with Geri Allen, Eric Harland, and Larry Grenadier at 8 and 10 p.m. through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $12-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Self-Not-Self at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

FRIDAY, JUNE 24 

THEATER 

Antares Ensemble “Hellenic Image” choruses and monologues from Greek tragedies at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club. Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. through June 26. Tickets are $10-$35. 525-3254.  

Aurora Theatre “The Thousandth Night” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. 2 and 7 p.m., through July 24, at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $36. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Repertory Theater, “Honour” at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. and runs through July 3. Tickets are $20-$39. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

California Shakespeare Theater, “Othello” at 8 p.m. at Bruns Amphitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., between Berkeley and Orinda, through July 3. Tickets are $10-$55. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

Shotgun Players, “Arabian Night” Thurs.-Sun. at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. until July 10. Tickets are $10-$30. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Subterranean Shakespeare “The Taming of the Shrew,” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center in Live Oak Park, through June 24. For reservations call 276-3871. 

Un-Scripted Theater Company “The Short and the Long of It” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., through June 25 at Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St., Oakland. Tickets are $7-$10. 415-869-5384. www.un-scripted.com 

FILM 

Jean-Marie Teno: “A Trip to the Country” at 7 p.m and “Clando” and 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Michael Chorost describes his journey from deafness to hearing in “Rebuilt: How Becomming Part Computer Made Me More Human” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com  

Filmmaker Jean- Marie Teno discusses his artistic process at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“The Beggar’s Opera” at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $56. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Vince Wallace Quintet at 9 p.m. at Cafe Van Kleef, 1621 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5. 763-7711. www.cafevankleef.com 

Yumi Thomas, mezzo-soprano, Sarita Cannon, soprano, Shunsuke Kurahata, piano, at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. Cost is $12-$15. 845-6811. www.giorgigallery.com 

Flamenco with guest artists from Spain, at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $18-$20. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Betty Shaw, Melanie O’Reilly & Tir na Mara at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Nasty Breeze, One Block Radius, Boogie Shack at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Lua at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Gearoid ÓhAllmhuráin at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $18.50-$19.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Pat Nevins and Friends in a Benefit for Pirate Radio at 9 p.m. at the Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway, Oakland. Cost is $10. 465-8480. www.oaklandmetro.org 

Macy Blackman Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Mere Ours, singer songwriter, at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Chuck Prophet, Jug Free America at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

Los Cerveceros, Deconditioned, Until the Fall, at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

40 Watt Hype, hip-hop, latin, funk, at 9:30 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $8. 548-1159.  

Space Invaders, saxophone quartet, at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10.  

Stolen Bibles at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SATURDAY, JUNE 25 

EXHIBITIONS 

“A Girl’s Life” video installations by Kristy Guevara-Flanagan and Dawn D. Valadez opens at Pro Arts, 550 Second St. Oakland. www.proartsgallery.org 

“Celebrating Life through Art” an exhibition of Shona sulpture from Zimbabwe at Kofa International Art, Gallery, 1661 20th St., Suite 2, Oakland. 451-5632. 

FILM 

Jean-Marie Tendo: The Colonial Misunderstanding” at 7:30 p.m. and “Head in the Clouds” at 9:05 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Rhythm & Muse with Romaian poet Corbina Stirb at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center. Free. 527-9753, 644-6893. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Trinity Chamber Concerts with Lara Bruckmann, soprano, at 8 p.m. at 2320 Dana St. Tickets are $8-$12. 549-3864. http:// 

trinitychsmberconcerts.com 

“The Beggar’s Opera” at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $56. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Guillaume Vincent, piano, at 4 p.m. at Arlington Community Church, 52 Arlington Ave., Kensington. Donation $15 adults, $6 children. 268-8115. www.sbcacc.org/concert_gv  

Mokai & Friends, folk-blues, at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10.  

Modalities & Samvega at 1 p.m. at People’s Park, 2556 Haste St. bakerartstudios@gmail.com  

Pick Pocket Ensemble at 9:30 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $3. 843-2473. www.albatrosspub.com 

Terry Rodriguez, Dick Conte Quartet at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Melanie O’Reilly at 9 p.m. at Cafe Van Kleef, 1621 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5. 763-7711. www.cafevankleef.com 

Sourdough Slim at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

Marina Garza & Orquestra D’Soul with Montuno Groove. Conversation with the artists at 8:30 p.m., performance at 9:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $12-$14. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Jai Uttal and the Pagan Love Orchestra at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $13-$15. 525-5054. www.ashkenaz.com 

Gawdamn, Mr. Byrnes, Our Name is Robert Paulson at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Jerry Kennedy, acoustic R&B, at 7 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Arlington Houston Quartet at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Deborah Crooks at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344. www.nomadcafe.net 

Mystic, hip hop, soul, at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $12. 548-1159.  

Anton Barbeau, Lucifer Meltdown, Joe Rut at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryplough.com 

Mokai, Mia and Jonah, and Jason Miller, eclectic folk, at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

Rock N Roll Adventure Kids, Empty Silos Echo War at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St., an all-ages, member-run, no alcohol, no drugs, no violence club. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Helsinki Skylight at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

SUNDAY, JUNE 26 

CHILDREN  

Family Explorations: Living Traditions and Historic Objects with Native American, Japanese and Latino music and traditions at 1 p.m. at the Oakland Museum of California, 10th and Oak Sts. Cost is $4-$8. 238-2200. www.museumca.org 

EXHIBITIONS 

New Works by Bruce Skogen, abstract paintings, at Cafe DiDartolo, 3310 Grand Ave., Oakland. 832-9005. 

“Ballybaba” four artists re-imagine the landscapes of Beckett’s “Molloy.” Reception at 1 p.m. at the Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., Richmond. 620-6772. www.therichmondartcenter.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash with Gail Entrekin and Linda Watanabe McFerrin at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“The Beggar’s Opera” at 3 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $56. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Aaron Blumenfeld “Seven Art Songs” Housewarming Paty for Congregation Beth Israel, at 7:30 p.m. at 1630 Bancroft Way. Cost is $15. 

PachaSiku, pan pipes, flutes and drums, at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Fandango V, early California dance and music at 3 p.m. at Peralta Hacienda Historical Park, 2465 34th Ave., Oakland. 532-9142. 

Mark Deutsch, part of the series “Offerings” at 7 p.m. at Grace North Church, 2138 Cedar St. Suggested donation $10. 213-3122. 

John McCutcheon at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $21.50-$22.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

MRLS wih Murzyn, Rokeach, Lockett and Saunders at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Americana Unplugged with B. Moccola and Paul Crowder at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

MONDAY, JUNE 27 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Peter Baker and Susan Glasser describe Putin’s rise to power in “Kremlin Rising: Vladimir Putin’s Russia and the End of the Revolution” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Poetry Express Theme night on “Fathers and Suns” for Father’s day and the Summer Solstice at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Trovatore, traditional Italian songs, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Oliver Mtukudzi & Black Spirits, afro-pop from Zimbabwe at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $8-$12. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com?

Some ash trees are among the last to leaf out in Berkeley every spring—along with certain sycamores—and I’ve caught myself giving up on a few of the oldest specimens every year, supposing them dead at last. So many of our senior trees have been so grotesquely pruned for powerline clearance that I’ve become a bit of a pessimist about them.  

I can’t entirely blame utility crews. Part of the problem is that either trees that get too tall have been planted under utility wires, or utility wires have been strung over trees that get too tall. In most neighborhoods, I suppose the wires are of longer standing than the street trees.  

Another problem is bad pruning, and I think that is a result of bad pruning schedules—too many years between cuts. To compensate, tree workers cut heavily, and we end up with disproportionately spindly scaffold branches, sometimes with silly tufts of leafy twigs on the ends, sometimes with lots of watersprouts that make the whole thing too heavy to hold itself up. 

I didn’t intend to write another malpruning screed, but there is a connection, honest.  

Ash trees are lovely. They have handsome bark—pale gray in most of the ash species we see on city streets—and graceful, feathery compound leaves in encouraging shades of pale and bright green. They take a “vase-shaped” form, roughly a point-down triangle atop a straight trunk, that gives a street a sort of stately Gothic-arch bower as they get large enough for their branches to meet over it.  

Part of that vase shape, though, involves what tree folks call “narrow crotch angles.” Limbs join trunks at acute upward angles, making a “V” rather than a “U.” It looks pretty but increases the chance of a bark inclusion between the limb and trunk, or branch and limb. 

Look at the nearest tree. See that rumple of bark like a rough turtleneck where a limb emerges? If it’s rolled outward and kind of rough, like a keloid scar, that’s a good thing. As the limb grows thicker, the bark at the junction is being forced outward, where it’s harmless. If it’s rolled inward to make a neat little crease like the inside of your bent elbow, there might be trouble brewing. 

Bark that’s rolled inward can effectively dam the live flow of the tree, so what looks like a thickening branch is actually being cut off from nutrients at that upper edge, while the bark is growing into the wood. It replaces live tissue with dead “skin,” and leaves less wood to hold the limb up. That’s the kind of branch that’s most likely to rip off the trunk under stress from wind, weight (from outside forces or just from sudden fast water intake, which adds a surprising amount), or just gravity and time.  

What I find interesting is that ash trees don’t do as much of this self-pruning, in my experience, as sweetgums and acacias do. Maybe it’s just that the strong white wood they make is capable of holding itself up. Ash is what your classic Louisville Slugger baseball bat is made of, after all, and tool handles and other things that need to withstand hard knocks.  

You want strength? Yggdrasil, the World Tree of Norse mythology, is widely supposed to have been an ash. (And the first human man was made of ash; the first human woman, alder.)  

Mostly what you see planted around here are velvet ash, especially the ‘Modesto’ cultivar (Fraxinus velutina ‘Modesto’) and shamel ash (Fraxinus uhdei). Just to add to our instant California tour of names, “fresno” is the Spanish word for the shamel ash. That one is evergreen if it’s growing far enough to the south; it’s native to semitropical Mexico.  

There’s a potentially serious threat to our ash trees – it’s already devastating urban and rural ash groves in the Midwest. The emerald ash borer, a beetle imported accidentally in freight from Asia, has killed more than six million ash trees in Michigan, and is spreading in spite of quarantines. When you think about chestnut blight and Dutch elm disease and how they’ve changed our landscape, it’s a lot more scary than the prospect of the occasional falling limb. 

TUESDAY, JUNE 21 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Summer Solstice Words and Music Bring your guitars, drums and poetry from 11 a.m. to noon at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Protest RFID Rally at 6 p.m. on the steps of Old City Hall, 2134 M.L.King, Jr. Way, to call for removal of Radio Frequency chips from Berkeley Public Library books, CDs, etc. 843-2152. 

“Cuba: 45 Years of Struggle against U.S. Imperialism” at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Donation $3-$10 benefits the ongoing work of the Committee to Free the Cuban Five. To reserve free childcare call 415-821-6545.  

“The Case for Affirmative Action in University Admissions” with Bob Laird, Director of Undergraduate Admissions at UCB, at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books, 1491 Shattuck Ave. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

“History of the Tele Times” a screening and discussion of the underground magazine with BN Duncan, Claire Burch and Ace Backwards at 7 p.m. at Book Zoo, 2556 Telegraph Ave. 883-1332. 

East Bay Bicycle Coalition meets at 7:30 p.m. at the Rockridge Library, 5366 College Ave., Rockridge. 433-RIDE. www.ebbc.org 

Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation at 10 a.m. at 6230 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Advance sign-up needed 594-5165. 

Poetry as a Spiritual Practice with Roy Doughty at 7 p.m. at Unity of Berkeley, 2075 Eunice St. Free. 271-8318. 

“Pacing Yourself for Optimum Functioning” at noon in the Mafly Auditorium, Alta Bates, Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way. Sponsored by Arthritis Foundation/Fibromyalgia. 644-3273. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22 

Return of the Over-the-Hills Gang Hikers 55 years and older who are interested in nature study, history, fitness, and fun are invited to join us on a series of monthly excursions exploring our Regional Parks. Meets at 10 a.m. To register call 525-2233.  

Insects for Kids A free class for children ages 5-10, at 9 a.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. www.barringtoncollective.org 

Walking Tour of Historic Oakland Churches and Temples Meet at 10 a.m. at the front of the First Prebyterian Church at 2619 Broadway. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www. 

oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

“Wildly Successful Plants of Northern California,” a slide show with Pam Peirce at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220. 

Gilman Street Playing Fields Special Workshop with the Planning and Parks & Recreation Commissions at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7480. 

Jefferson Elementary School Proposed Name Change Public Hearing at 6:30 p.m. at at Old City Hall Council Chambers, 2134 MLK Jr. Way. www.berkeley.k12.ca.us 

Berkeley Unified School District Public Hearing on the 2005-6 Budget at 7:30 p.m. at Old City Hall Council Chambers, 2134 MLK Jr. Way. www.berkeley.k12.ca.us 

“The War is Not Over!” An evening of political performance with David Harris, Merle Kessler, Ian Shoales and Joshua Brody at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave. Cost is $10. 525-5054. www.infotainmentposse.com 

Dine Out and Silent Auction for African AIDS Orphans at Unicorn, 2533 Telegraph Ave. Co-sponsored by Priority Africa Network, ACT UP East Bay and others. For reservations call 841-4339. 

“Zar-Reet!” a documentary of two Moroccan woman, by Albany resident Khadijah Chadly, at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 16. 

“Lethal Medicine” a documentary on the myths of animal experimentation, at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Free, but $5 donations accepted. 925-487-4419. 

“Planning Ahead: Sparing Your Heirs with a Living Trust” at 1:30 p.m. at North Berkeley Senior Center. Sponsored by Berkeley Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes. 548-9840. 

The Berkeley Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Action St. 841-2174.  

THURSDAY, JUNE 23 

Wellstone Democratic Club at 6:45 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Social hour at 6 p.m. Don Hazen from Alternet.com will speak about a national progressive strategy. 

Beginning and Intermediate Computer Workshop for all ages, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. Free, but registration required. call after 6 p.m. 540-0751. 

Local Legends Series with Judy Grahn on women’s spirituality and lesbian feminism at 7 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento St. 883-0600. 

Easy Does It Disability Assistance Board of Directors’ Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at 1744A University Ave. Open to the public. 845-5513. www.easyland.org 

Steps to Buying Your Own Home at 7 p.m. at Shaw Properties, 400 45th St., Oakland. Includes the process of pre-approval for financing, including income requirements and credit issues, and finding a realtor. www.barringtoncollective.org 

American Red Cross Mobile Blood Drive, 1 to 7 p.m. at St. Mary Magdalen, 2005 Berryman St. To make an appointment call 1-800-448-3543. www.BeADonor.com 

FRIDAY, JUNE 24 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Charles Townes on “Confluence of Science and Religion” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For information and reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

Bill Mandel, KPFA host, together with his son, Bob, at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. Donation $10, no one turned away. 495-5132. 

“Three Beats for Nothing” a small group meeting weekly at 10 a.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center to sing for fun and practice, mostly 16th century harmony. No charge. 655-8863, 843-7610. dann@netwiz.net 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 8 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 548-6310, 845-1143. 

Meditation, Peace Vigil and Dialogue, gather at noon on the grass close to the West Entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. People of all traditions are welcome to join us. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

SATURDAY, JUNE 25 

Kid’s Garden Club for ages 7-12 to explore the world of gardening, from 2 to 4 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. Cost is $5-$7, registration required. 525-2233. 

Children’s Zoo Grand Opening at the Oakland Zoo, with interactive experiences, and exhibits of lemurs, giant fruit bats, otters, reptiles and more. 632-9525. www.oaklandzoo.org 

Music and Arts at People’s Park from noon to 6 p.m. 707-963-7402. 

How to Create Your Own Garden Paradise at 10 a.m. at Magic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

Building with Alternative Materials: Cob and Strawbale A workshop from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Building Education Center, 812 Page St. Cost is $75. 525-7610. www.bldgeductr.org/ 

seminars.html  

Lead-Safe Painting and Remodeling Learn how to detect and remedy lead hazards and conduct lead-safe renovations for your older home. From 9 to 11 a.m. at Alameda County Lead Poisoning Prevention Program Training Facility, 1017 22nd Avenue, Suite 110, Oakland. Free. 567-8280. 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland uptown to the Lake to discover Art Deco landmarks. Meet at 10 a.m. in front of the Paramount Theater at 2025 Broadway. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. 

Tantric Feast and Auction with live music at 6 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Tickets for the feast are $25, for the auction $10. For reservations 888-826-8729. info@tantrayogainternational.org 

Breema Clinic Open House from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. with demonstrations and mini-sessions at 6201 Florio St. at Claremont & College, Rockridge. 428-1234. www.breemahealth.com  

Year of the Estuary: Carquinez Hike Meet at 10 a.m. at the Eckley Pier staging area off Carquinez Scenic Drive near Crockett to learn about the region’s history. 525-2233. 

Animal Origami with Mitsuko Yoneyama, for children 4 years and older, at 3 p.m. at RabbitEars, Arlington Ave., Kensington. 525-6155.  

Cheese Tastings and discussion with Debra Dickerson, author of “Great Grilled Cheese” at 1 p.m. at The Pasta Shop, 1786 Fourth St. 528-1786. 

Spirited Woman Workshop from 1 to 4 p.m. at Creative Juices Arts, 432 Bellevue Ave., Oakland. Cost is $85. Reservations required. 888-428-1234.  

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Junior Rangers of Tilden meets Sat. mornings at Tilden Nature Center. For more information call 525-2233. 

Car Wash Benefit for Options Recovery Services of Berkeley, held every Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Lutheran Church, 1744 University Ave. 666-9552. 

Tribute to Lee and Dorothy Marsh, founders of the BRJCC. For details call 848-0237, ext. 110. 

SUNDAY, JUNE 26 

On the Bluebird Trail Meet at 10 a.m. at Tilden Nature Area for a 3.5 mile walk up and over Wildcat Peak and a portion of the bluebird nestbox trail to help with the nesting survey. Bring water and a snack. For ages ten and up. 525-2233. 

Pat the Bunny For toddlers ages 2-4 to meet a Little Farm Dutch Rabbit, at 1 p.m. at the Tilden Nature Center. 525-2233. 

Celebrating Helen Rand Parish A memorial celebrating the life and spirit of author and activist Helen Rand Parish will be held from 2 to 4 p.m., at the Berkeley Yatch Club, at 1 Seawall Drive, Berkeley Marina. 653-1250. 

Open House at Studio 12, from 1 to 4 p.m. with information on aerial dance, yoga and Iaido, at 2525 Eighth St. 587-0770. www.movingout.org 

Berkeley City Club free tour from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tours are sponsored by the Berkeley City Club and the Landmark Heritage Foundation. Donations welcome. The Berkeley City Club is located at 2315 Durant Ave. For group reservations or more information, call 848-7800 or 883-9710. 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

“Habitat for Humanity” with Holly Zimmerman and Sydney Williams at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302. 

Tibetan Buddhism with Elizabeth Cook on “Preserving Tibetan Texts” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

East Bay Synagogues Fundraiser and Garden Party at 1 p.m. at 8898 Terrace Drive, El Cerrito. Tickets are $12-$15. Reservations required. 843-3131. www.aquarianminyan.org 

MONDAY, JUNE 27 

City of Berkeley Walking Group walks Mon.-Thurs. from 5 to 5:30 p.m. Meet at 830 University Ave. All new participants receive a free pedometer. 981-5131. 

“The Patriot Act” with ACLU attorney, Jeff Mittman at 7 p.m. at the Paul Robeson Chapter of the ACLU meeting at the Rockridge Library, Manila and College Aves., Oakland. 

Tenant’s Rights Workshop at 6 p.m. at the Long Haul Infoshop 3124 Shattuck Ave. www.barringtoncollective.org 

Conflict Resolution Skills Class at 7 p.m. at Oscar Wilde Co-op, 2410 Warring St. Learn about different approaches to conflict, your conflict style, active listening, effective communication, and the basic philosophies that aid in transforming interpersonal conflict. www.barringtoncollective.org 

World Affairs/Politics Discussion Group for people 60 years and over meets Mondays at 10:15 a.m. at the Albany Senior Center, 846 Masonic Ave. Join at any time. Cost is $2.50 with refreshments. 524-9122. CANCELLED MAY 30 

Berkeley CopWatch organizational meeting at 8 p.m. at 2022 Blake St. Join us to work on current issues around police misconduct. Volunteers needed. For information call 548-0425. 

TUESDAY, JUNE 28 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Farm for an hour or two walk. In case of questionable weather, call around 8 a.m. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Educators Academy: Insects and crwaling Creatures, Tues.-Thurs., from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. For teachers of grades K-5. Fee is $100 for Berkeley residents, $110 for non-residents. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Great Yosemite Day Hikes with An Marie Brown at 7 p.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. 527-4140. 

Juvenile Criminal Records Workshop at 6 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center, 3105 Shattuck Ave. Learn what remedies available for individuals with juvenile records in California. www.barringtoncollective.org 

Berkeley PC Users Group Problem solving and beginners meeting to answer, in simple English, users questions about Windows computers. At 7 p.m. at 1145 Walnut St. corner of Eunice. All welcome, no charge. 527-2177.  

Mandala Workshop using collage and art materials to create a circular form at 7 p.m. at Change Makers, 6536 Telegraph Ave. at 66th. Cost is $25. To register call. 525-9258.  

Family Storytime at 7 p.m. at Kensington Library, 61 Arlington Ave. 524-3043. 

Buddhist Meditation Class at 7 p.m. at The Dzalandhara Buddhist Center. Cost is $7-$10. For directions and details please call 559-8183. 

Brainstormer Weekly Pub Quiz every Tuesday from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Pyramid Alehouse Brewery, 901 Gilman St. 528-9880. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. Share your digital images, slides and prints and learn what other photographers are doing. Monthly field trips. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

St. John’s Prime Timers meets at 9:30 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. We offer ongoing classes in exercise and creative arts, and always welcome new members over 50. 845-6830. 

ONGOING 

Summer Camps for Children offered by the City of Berkeley, including swimming, sports and twilight basketball, from June 20 to August 12, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 981-5150, 981-5153. 

Free Lunches for Berkeley Children beginning June 20, Mon.-Fri., 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Frances Albrier Center, James Kenney Center, MLK, Jr. Youth Services Center, Strawberry Creek, Washington School and Rosa Parks School. 981-5146. 

Albany Summer Youth Programs including basketball, classes, bike trips and family activities. For information see www.albanyca.org/dept/rec.html 

Bay Area Shakespeare Camp for ages 7 to 13, two week sessions through Aug., at John Hinkle Park. Cost is $395, with scholarships available. 415-422-2222. www.sfshakes.org 

CITY MEETINGS 

City Council meets Tues., June 21, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Citizens Budget Review Commission meets Wed., June 22, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7041. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/budget 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., June 22, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/civicarts 

Disaster Council meets Wed., June 22 at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. William Greulich, 981-5502. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/disaster 

Energy Commission meets Wed., June 22, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/energy 

Planning Commission meets Wed., June 22, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed. June 22, at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/policereview 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., June 23, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.ber 

keley.ca.us/commissions/zoning

(No charges were filed and the City of Berkeley paid some claimed damages -- See The Berkeley Daily Planet, November 11, 2005.) 

Berkeley police officers sorted through hundreds of used bikes Wednesday as they searched for hot wheels at a well known cyclery. 

The platoon of uniformed officers, accompanied by a plainclothes detective or two from the Stolen Property Unit, were execu ting a warrant served on Karim Cycles at 2800 Telegraph Ave. 

On its Internet site, the store advertises “the largest selection (of used street bikes) in the San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley area.” The store is also featured on “Bike Berkeley” page of the city’s website. 

Though the store was closed when officers arrived, officers summoned a locksmith, who made short work of the door. 

“The search warrant was based on the earlier recovery of three stolen bikes from the shop,” said Berkeley police spokespe rson Officer Joe Okies. 

Officers tagged the more than 500 bikes in the store’s inventory, marking down the serial numbers and checking them against the state registry which records the numbers bicycle owners report when their wheels are stolen. 

Officers from Property Crimes, the department’s bicycle unit and other details were assigned to the search. 

By the time the search was completed, 17 bikes had been hauled off to the evidence locker, including one confirmed set of hot wheels and 16 others with il legally removed, obliterated and altered serial numbers. 

Owner Ali Karim wasn’t present during the search, but detectives later made contact with him, said Okies. 

No arrests were made, and the case is still under investigation. 

Neighbors who stopped to look as the search progressed said they weren’t surprised by the raid. 

Visitors to the ‘bikes for sale’ section of the Craigslist.org website left their comments about the raid, as well as photographs they took of the officers in action. 

Readers at ano ther website advised the owner of an expensive stolen bike to search for his bicycle at the Telegraph Avenue shop. 

While one of the craigslist writers urged those who have had bikes stolen to contact Berkeley Police to see if their wheels had been spotted during the raid, Okies demurred. 

“The important thing is for bicycle owners to write down the serial numbers and then report the numbers to police if their bikes are stolen,” he said. 

Officers serving the warrant had only the serial numbers of stolen bikes already reported before the raid, he said. 

“If you haven’t reported the number, there’s not much we can do,” Okies added. 

Two weeks after signing a landmark deal with UC, the City Council returned Tuesday to a Bronx cheer. Two or three dozen neighborhood activists, along with a few politicians, filled out the council chambers to slam the deal they see as a sell-out to UC Be rkeley. 

“They gave away the store,” said former Mayor Shirley Dean at a rally outside of Old City Hall. “It’s a bad agreement and the secrecy of it makes it worse.” 

Inside council chambers the protesters dominated the public comment session and directed a smattering of “resign” chants at Mayor Tom Bates. 

The critics insisted the deal, which increases campus payments for city services from approximately $540,000 to $1.2 million a year and commits both sides to draft a new land-use plan for the downtown, offered the city too little money, didn’t address neighborhood concerns and gave the university too much power in the city center. 

Protesters also denounced a confidentiality agreement signed between the parties that kept the deal secret until its appr oval.  

“Of course we couldn’t come before you sold out, because we didn’t know when that was going to be,” Sharon Hudson of Berkeleyans For A Livable University Environment told the council. 

When the council got down to work it agreed on a plan to slightly reduce the number of meetings for 23 city commissions, ordered planning staff to hold off for a week on issuing administrative permits to tear down illegal apartments at a West Berkeley warehouse, raised several city fees, and received news that they would have over $700,000 more to spend next year. 

City Commissions 

With little debate as the clock approached midnight, the council voted 7-1-1 (Worthington, no and Spring, abstain) on a deal to scale back city commissions.  

The new rules, drafted Mond ay by Councilmembers Laurie Capitelli, Darryl Moore and Gordon Wozniak, will combine the Disaster Council and Fire Safety Commission and cut back on meetings from 11 times a year to 10 for 23 commissions. The commissions will be able to petition the counc il to hold extra meetings. 

Design Review Housing Advisory, Landmarks Preservation, Personnel Board, Planning, Police Review and Zoning Adjustments are not affected by the change and will continue to meet on their current schedules. 

The new rules also re quire commission secretaries to inform the council when commissions fail to reach a quorum at consecutive meetings. They must also submit annual reports summarizing how many commissioners attend each meeting, how many members of the public attend, how man y people speak during public comment and how long the meetings last. 

The council chose the plan instead of an alternative proposal from city staff that would have allowed several commissions to experiment with preparing their own agendas and meeting minu tes. City Manager Phil Kamlarz has argued that assigning city staff to Berkeley’s 44 citizen commissions takes too much time away from other duties. 

The council struck from the new plan a section that would have prohibited commissioners from serving on m ore than one board or from serving more than eight years on a commission within 10 years. They are scheduled to reconsider this issue in July. 

The Drayage 

The owner of the East Bay Drayage warehouse will have to wait until at least next week for a permi t to demolish the two dozen live-work units that tenants refuse to leave. 

The council ordered city planning staff to hold off on issuing the permits until it considers next week whether such permits require a hearing before the Zoning Adjustment Board, w hich the tenants have asserted. 

“The notion that a permit to demolish my home could be issued without a public hearing is outrageous to me,” said Maresa Danielsen, who lives in the Drayage. 

The permits are vital for Drayage owner Lawrence White. The cit y is fining him $2,500 a day for failing to evacuate the building, but city law limits his options for evicting the tenants. The demolition permit would give him “good cause” to proceed with evictions without having to invoke a state law that could preven t him from turning the building into condominiums. 

Under Berkeley law, the destruction of residential units requires a use permit issued by the ZAB. However, Berkeley Zoning Officer Mark Rhoades told the council that in the case of the Drayage the permits did not need ZAB approval because the units were built illegally. 

When pressed about a similar case two years ago at 2750 Adeline St. when Rhoades required the owner to go before ZAB to demolish illegal units, the zoning officer replied the cases were different because there was one legal unit at 2750 Adeline St., whereas all the units at Drayage are illegal. 

City Attorney Manuela Albuquerque warned the council that requiring the hearing would set a sweeping precedent. 

“You could not be able to enfor ce the zoning ordinance because once someone built something it would be legal,” she said. 

“This would open up a Pandora’s box,” said Councilmember Wozniak.  

Councilmember Moore, who represents West Berkeley, disagreed, citing the fact that the Fire Dep artment had inspected the warehouse for years without citing it as a safety hazard. Fire Department officials have said they never inspected the individual apartments until this year. 

Fees and Budget 

The council Tuesday passed fee increases for recreati on programs, garbage collection and the Berkeley Marina. Also the council established new fees for environmental inspections and traffic engineering services for developers. 

Fees on parks and traffic engineering also passed unanimously. Wozniak opposed f ees for environmental health, the marina and garbage pick-up, while Councilmember Dona Spring also opposed the marina fee hike. 

Of the fees that passed, only the garbage fee increase of 8 percent received serious scrutiny. When asked why the fee wasn’t m ore in line with inflation, Public Works Director Renee Cardinaux replied, “Unfortunately the majority of costs we have are labor, fuel and equipment and those things aren’t going down.” 

The council postponed until next week discussion—user fees on the B erkeley Farmers’ Markets. The Ecology Center, which runs the markets, voiced concerns about the city’s proposal, which would increase the group’s fees by roughly $3,000 a year. The center protested that the regulations would require it to provide public r estrooms and extra-wide lanes for fire trucks at the markets. 

With under two weeks left to pass a balanced budget, the city announced it has an extra $742,000 to spend from money returned by the state and the city’s tax on property transfers. Councilmembers, however, have requested nearly $1.6 million in spending. The council will revisit the budget next week. 

c

Although they live at what city officials believe to be one of Berkeley’s most harrowing intersections—at least for pedestrians and cyclists—residents around Hillegass and Ashby avenues are fighting a proposed traffic light at the spot. 

More than 40 neighbors have signed a petition urging Caltrans to reject a grant request by the city that would pay for nearly the entire project, said Jonathan Jaffe, who lives on Hillegass. 

“I feel pretty confident it would increase traffic on the street,” he said. He said he feared that a standard traffic signal at the intersection would invite more motorists on Hillegass who could cross Ashby on a green light, rather than waiting for traffic to clear. 

Peter Hillier, the assistant city manager for transportation, said that if the city received the grant, it would likely install a specialty signal that would discourage car traffic on Hillegass. 

The city has sought to install a signal at the intersection since it approved its bicycle boulevard plan in 2000. Hillegass is one of the city’s bicycle boulevards, but cyclists and pedestrians on the street have no signal or stop sign to help them cross the busy Ashby thoroughfare. 

“It’s one of the most dangerous crossings we have,” said David Campbell, a city transportation commissioner and the president of Bicycle Friendly Berkeley. 

Besides concern that a traffic light would draw more motorists to use Hillegass, George Beier, president of the Willard Neighborhood Association, claims city officials approved the grant application without informing residents. 

“The city is piecemealing changes that have big implications for our neighborhood,” Beier said. 

The neighborhood has called for a moratorium on new traffic lights and other transit changes until the city comes up with an area plan approved by the neighborhood group. 

The City Council will vote on a proposal next week from Councilmember Kriss Worthington requiring the city to involve residents on transit changes to the neighborhood. A neighborhood meeting on the signal has been scheduled for June 30. Caltrans is expected to rule on the application after the state passes its budget, scheduled for the end of the month. 

Heath Maddox, a Berkeley Transportation Planner, said the city would plan for the light installation if the grant is passed. “We’re not going to spend scarce time and effort until we know we really have the money for it,” he said. 

The city has not yet performed detailed traffic studies documenting traffic flow or accidents at the intersection, he added. 

The South Campus neighborhood has battled with city officials over traffic lights previously. In 2002, neighborhood leaders and city officials feuded over where to install two new signals. Although neighbors requested signals at Stuart Street and Telegraph Avenue and at Russell Street and Shattuck Avenue, the city put both new lights on Telegraph, one at Stuart and the other at Russell, leaving many residents furious. 

Brier said he feared the proposed signal could escalate into another fight. 

Willard residents say they get the brunt of traffic turning off of Ashby, because the neighborhoods directly to the east and west have barriers to through traffic. If Hillegass has a standard traffic signal, Jaffe feared, more drivers would choose the street as an alternative to College Avenue. 

In February the council applied to Caltrans for a $189,000 grant. The city would pay $21,000 towards the project. Caltrans rejected the application last year, but city officials are hoping for a different decision this time. 

Although tensions over the signal are running high, all sides appear ready to compromise. Bicycle advocates and neighbors said they were open to a pedestrian-operated signal that would turn green for cyclists and walkers crossing Ashby, but force drivers to turn right onto Ashby. 

“We don’t want more traffic on Hillegass either,” Campbell said. 

Maddox said the city and residents would review the options for signals and other modifications that would discourage motorists from using Hillegass. 

“This is a bicycle boulevard. The intent of the signal is to foster through movement of cyclists, not drivers,” he said.  

As a phalanx of registered nurses paraded outside the Watergate Office Tower in Emeryville Tuesday, inside a delegation of officials from the California Nurses Association confronted one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s major fundraisers. 

The CNA, the union which represents registered nurses throughout the state, has emerged as one of Schwarzenegger’s most formidable foes, and even Kristin Hueter, the GOP fundraiser who was targeted in Tuesday’s action, told CNA reps “You are doing God’s work. It isn’t anything personal.” 

Hueter has been one of the governor’s most effective fundraisers, and a CNA protest outside a Citizens to Save California (CSC) fundraiser at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco in March upstaged his appearance inside. They did it again last month at another Hueter/CSC event at the Ritz-Carlton.  

The CNA has taken a lead role in challenging Schwarzenegger’s initiative that would give him the power to slash the budget passed by state legislators at any time during the year. 

“It’s the auctioning off of public life in California,” CNA Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro told the Emeryville protestors. “We don’t believe human lives should be privatized.” 

“The pharmaceutical industry is spending $100 million on the special election,” declared Martha Cool, a CNA member from Oakland. “The state’s cost will be $800 million—money that would be better spent on patient care.” 

“Is this a corporate state or a private state?” asked DeMoro. “The governor wants to deny the right to public health care and he wants to deny the public right to education. He’s an affable spokesman for the extreme right, and his agenda is privatization.” 

The governor first incurred the nurses’ wrath when he tried to block implementation of a law that reduces the ration of patients per nurse from six to five. 

Schwarzenegger’s declaration that nurses were simply another special interest, coupled with his announcement that he intended to “kick their butts,” generated outrage and late-night talk show ridicule. 

A CNA delegation composed of nurses Abbie Stewart of Oakland, Joan Rudolfo of Summit Medical Center and Robert Marth then entered the Watergate Tower, followed later by DeMoro and CNA Communications Director Charles Idleson to confront Hueter. 

The epistle, signed by CNA President Deborah Burger, condemned “the wasteful and unneeded election you are helping the governor bankroll ... just one of the many examples of how the non-stop fundraising by this governor, with your assistance, is corrupting the political process in our state, endangering the public, and undermining our democracy.” 

The irony of Schwarzenegger’s transcontinental fundraising effort has not escaped the attention of political cartoonists and columnists, who recall that the Austrian immigrant was elected in a recall election he waged in large part based on condemnations of the smaller fundraising efforts of then-incumbent Gray Davis. 

Also on tap for the governor’s fall initiative campaign is a measure that would strip the legislature of its redistricting powers and hand them over to a panel of retired judges—a group which includes a large number of conservative former prosecutors.l

For 27 years, Nat Courtney and Frank Alvarez, former classmates at St. Mary’s High School, fixed cars at Jim Doten Honda. Wednesday they were among 24 current and former technicians picketing outside the dealership accusing the new ownership of union busting. 

The workers, represented by the East Bay Automotive Machinists Lodge Local 1546, said they plan to picket until the new owners agree to rehire the workers they dismissed upon taking over the dealership. 

The first negotiating session between the two sides is scheduled for today (Friday). 

“A lot of us have been here for decades and now they’re trying to break us up and cheat us out of our pension,” said Alvarez, 48, who began working at the dealership in 1978. 

Steve Hayworth, new general manager of the dealership, now called Berkeley Honda, said that management was willing to talk to the union and that it has offered workers a more lucrative package without a union contract. Despite having more than half of his mechanics and machinists walk off the job, he said the service department remained open and reported no service delays. 

Upon purchasing the dealership at 2600 Shattuck Ave. on June 1, the new ownership group headed by Stephen Beinke, a Danville businessman, made all employees reapply for their jobs. In the repair shop, management rehired 10 Local 1546 members, but let 12 go. 

One of the mechanics released was Courtney, a 31-year veteran of the dealership and the union’s shop steward. Local 1546 has filed unfair labor charges against the dealership, alleging that Courtney was not rehired because of his position in the union. 

“They called me Memorial Day weekend and said, ‘You’re simply not going to work for us, you’re free to go on with your life,’” said Courtney, whose father, also a mechanic, worked for the Doten family’s original Pontiac dealership on Telegraph Avenue. 

The new management’s proposals to staffers who agreed to work without the union contract included more money and similar health benefits, but replaced pension contributions with a 401K individual retirement plan. 

“These guys know the value of their pensions,” said Michael Cook, a business representative for Local 1546. The pension plan, part of a regional pool that includes over 20,000 auto parts workers, guarantees them a lifetime annuity with an option for their spouses to continue receiving money after they die. 

“I don’t know of any 401K plan that does that,” Cook said. 

Courtney said he was two years away from qualifying for a full pension. Alvarez, who was rehired, said he was four years away. To safeguard pension contributions temporarily and preserve the jobs of the whole Doten staff, Cook said the union requested a one-year interim contract, which management rejected. 

The union was working under a four year contract set to expire at the end of June. However, that deal was exclusively with Doten Honda and does not transfer to the new ownership, Cook said. 

For years the dealership was a member of a regional association of dealerships that bargained with the union on behalf of all its members. The association would come to an agreement with the union on a contract, and all the dealers would accept the deal. 

In 2001, however, Doten dropped out of the association and decided to bargain with the union directly. 

The new ownership group was under no obligation to rehire the workers. However, since the auto shop, at this point, is comprised of a majority of union workers, management is required to deal with the union for a certain period. But if more non-union workers are brought in and make up a majority of the auto shop employees, the workers can call to decertify the union. 

“It’s our belief that we’re being used to train the new guys and over time they’ll find more of them to take our jobs until it’s not a union shop,” Alvarez said. The union fears that management is screening new hires for union sympathies. So far none of the new hires have joined the union, Cook said, even though they were offered the option of paying nominal dues. 

Hayworth said management had no intention of ousting any more long-term employees. 

“We want them to stay here,” he said. “That’s why we offered them salaries and benefits that far and away exceeded anything they could get from their bargaining unit.” 

In the Bay Area about half of the dealerships have union repair shops, according to a report in Ward’s Auto World, an industry newsletter. In Berkeley, McKevitt Volvo and Nissan is a union shop, while Weatherford BMW Berkeley and Toyota are not.  

Four decades after it was abandoned and nearly a century after it was built, a landmarked former grocery store is back in business—this time as housing. 

In his first foray into the realm of development, Berkeley architect David Trachtenberg has reincarnated the dilapidated landmark and transformed it into a gem. 

In a rare show of unanimity between two often-divergent arms of city government, Trachtenberg’s plans won the unanimous assents of both the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) and the Zoning Adjustments Board (ZAB). 

The result is the reincarnated Rose Grocery at 2211 Rose St., this time as a pair of upscale condominiums which stand resplendent in the place of the ruins of a 1908 store built by a German immigrant. 

Only a few aged boards remain of the original structure—the Rose Grocery sign, the corbels above it and the carved wooden pilasters on either side of the two-copper-sheathed garage doors that now stand where George Hunrick’s windows once displayed his fresh produce. 

Hunrick came from Germany to study banking under A.P. Giannini, founder of Bank of America. He moved to Berkeley in 1904, and opened his store two years later. 

At the time, the building was located in what was known as the Berryman Station shopping district, named after the streetcar and railroad hub a block to the north. 

Hunrick ran the store until 1923, when he transferred operation to a store at the corner of College and Ashby avenues. 

The Rose Street store continued to operate under various guises until 1966, when it was shuttered forever. 

By the time the LPC bestowed the “structure of merit” designation in 1988, the store’s structural decay was already advanced, and when Trachtenberg bought it a year ago, collapse was imminent. 

Trachtenberg is a well known architect whose commissions have included the Berkeley Bowl on Shattuck Avenue, Cody’s Books on Telegraph Avenue and the latest addition to Solano Avenue, the unique two-story corner building at 1820 Solano Ave. 

By the time he bought Rose Grocery, “it was already considered a ‘demolition by neglect’ because it was more than 50 percent collapsed,” the architect said. 

“It was a complex process to work with Landmarks and the Zoning Board to come up with a solution,” he said. 

The architect lauded LPC member Carrie Olson for her help in formulating a project that met the requirements of the Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. 

He gave special praise to former LPC chair and project neighbor Robert Kehlman, who was a strong advocate for the project and helped organize neighbor support. 

“We received 37 letters of support from neighbors and none in opposition,” he said. 

Also offering major support for the project were Berkeley Planning Manager Mark Rhoades and then-ZAB member and now City Councilmember Laurie Capitelli, “who helped expedite what could have been a very lengthy process.” 

Trachtenberg’s townhouses are light and airy, with 10-foot ceilings and floors of sustainable Brazilian cherry wood. Complimenting the elegant interiors are the gardens and flagstone and gravel exterior spaces designed by the architect’s brother, Robert Trachtenberg of Garden Architecture. 

“We think of ourselves as a team,” said David Trachtenberg. 

The two-story 1,500-square-foot townhomes will sell for big bucks, and the additional 500-square-foot above-garage studio that goes with the first unit puts the cost of that dwelling close to the $1 million mark. 

Two realtors on hand for a reporter’s tour of the dwellings told the architect his homes had the finest detailing they’d ever seen. The proximity to Shattuck Avenue’s Gourmet Ghetto will also help with sales. 

“All the neighbors are thrilled with what we’ve done,” Trachtenberg said. 

“The neighbors, who have lived near a neglected property for decades, are ecstatic to have something that fits into the neighborhood and retains a piece of Berkeley history,” said Kehlman. “This is a sensitive reconstruction that turns the building into an asset for the neighborhood.” 

As required under the landmark code, the street facade retains the look that made the grocery store a memorable part of Berkeley history. 

The Mission Revival facade with its false front parapet bears the same profile as the older building, though the front structure is reduced in depth to accommodate the two dwellings behind it on the 5,000-square-foot lot. 

The copper garage doors stand in place of the large plate glass windows, and where the entry once stood is a small memorial to the building’s history, complete with a plaque.  

Editor’s note: Information on the history of the Hunrick Grocery Store is drawn from the research of Susan Cerny, posted on the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association website (www.berkeleyheritage.com).›

Congress dealt medical marijuana users their second blow in as many weeks Wednesday, defeating a proposal that would have barred the Justice Department from prosecuting medical pot growers and users in states with medical pot laws. 

The amendment to the Justice Department’s appropriation bill received 161 votes, more than in the past two years, but 57 votes short of the 218 needed for passage. Last year the amendment, authored by Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) and Maurice Hinchey (D-New York), received 148 votes. 

After the vote, Oakland resident Angel Raich, a plaintiff in the case decided by the Supreme Court last week, said in a prepared statement that she believed Congress would eventually reverse its position of medical marijuana. 

“I hope that the federal government will one day show compassion for patients like me,” she said. 

The high court ruled 6-3 that medical marijuana laws in 10 states did not preclude federal agents from enforcing federal drug laws. 

Marijuana is classified as a schedule 1 drug under the Federal Ccontrolled Substances Act, meaning the government considers it to be addictive and have no medicinal properties. 

Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) released a statement after the vote calling on Congress to protect medical marijuana users from federal prosecution. 

“The federal government has better things to do than prosecute sick people who are following their doctor’s orders and obeying state law,” Lee said.

Two East Bay street fairs celebrating local and national history and showcasing regional artists, musicians, and businesses are taking place this weekend. 

From noon to 6 p.m. on Saturday the Temescal Street Fair offers the opportunity to see and hear performers on two outdoor stages. Local merchants, craft, and community booths will line Telegraph Avenue between 51st and 48th Streets in Oakland. 

“It’s a celebration of community,” organizer Karen Hester said. “It came about because the neighborhood wanted to see a street fair. With help from the local merchants it all came together.” 

This is the second year for the fair. Last year was “tremendous success” with more than 5,000 attendees, according to organizer Kenny Mosttern.  

Due in part to last year’s turnout, a children’s stage has been added this year. It will feature Jeremy the Juggler, the Mixcoatl Anahuac Aztec Dancers, Madame Ovary, Opera Piccolo and the Oakland Library book mobile, among others. Entertainers on the main stage include the Stairwells Sisters, La Familia, and performances from the Aikido Institute. 

Destiny Arts, a violence prevention center for children ages 3 to 18 located in the neighborhood, will present an original piece by The Destiny Arts Youth Performance Group on the main stage. The group combines theater, dance and martial arts to educate children about violence prevention. They collaborate annually with professional performance artists to create a new and unique experience, executive director Sarah Crowell said. Saturday’s presentation is a 15-minute selection from the most recent piece, titled “Tomorrow is Today.” 

Also appearing on the main stage is the international Caribbean music group Junglz Apart. The group is lead by resident Tony D., owner of The International Caribbean One Stop Music Entertainment Center, which “houses everything needed to take an artist from concept to finished product.” 

In addition to the musical performances and the arts and crafts booths, a section of the fair is dedicated to the work of local fine artists, and a food court will offer food and beverages from local restaurants, including pizza and beer from Lanesplitter Pub. 

“It’s an opportunity for the residents and larger community to celebrate the Temescal,” Hester said. 

If that’s not enough local color and community, the following day is Berkeley’s annual Juneteenth Festival. 

On June 19, 1865, the Union troops reached Galveston, Texas, with news of the end of the Civil War. Citizens and heard for the first time of the Emancipation Proclamation, more than two years after Abraham Lincoln signed the law declaring all persons free of the bonds of slavery.  

Celebrations commemorating that day are called “Juneteenth” and are observed across the country. This year Berkeley marks the day with its nineteenth annual street fair on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. between Adeline Street and Alcatraz Avenue. 

Described as “a fun day, a family day,” by committee chairperson Sam Dyke, the festival features local artists, craftsmen and musicians. It is an alcohol-free event sponsored by the city of Berkeley. Vendors from non-profit organizations are a special part of the festivities, and with 20,000 people at last year’s festival, Dyke calls it a “kind of Christmas in June for the restaurants and merchants.” 

“It’s really just a good day for everyone,” he said. 

Like the Temescal street fair, Juneteenth boasts two stages, one for adults and one aimed at children. The main stage will host local groups Aceba and the Park Place Blues Band, but the biggest draw might be to the youth stage for “American Idol” semi-finalist Donnie Williams from Livermore. 

For more information on the Temescal Street Fair, call 593-9831. For the Juneteenth Festival, call 655-8008. 

Almost a quarter century ago, HIV attacked John Iversen—but it didn’t knock him out. Already a seasoned activist for social justice, Iversen kicked back with a vengeance.  

Over the years, he’s battled barriers confronting those who would live—and live well—with HIV/AIDS. Iversen’s lobbied Congress, written articles, organized demonstrations, gone to jail for affordable medicines, appropriate treatment, decent housing, needle exchange and he’s attacked the stereotypes that ostracize those with HIV/AIDS and their families.  

These days he’s using his organizing skills to raise funds for children in Uganda who have lost their parents to the disease.  

Iversen learned about the Good Spirit Support and Action Centre when he went halfway across the world to share his knowledge of activism at the October, 2003 Global Network of People Living with AIDS conference in Kampala.  

That’s where he ran into Vincent Wandera and learned about the Good Spirit Support and Action Centre, which Wandera and other HIV posi tive persons helped establish.  

A group of 12 people had come together in 1995 to support one another as they lived with HIV/AIDS, but their attention soon turned from their own needs to those of the orphaned children of friends and relatives who had die d from AIDS. Responding to the critical need, the group founded the center as an orphanage in 1997 with 37 children.  

As they cared for the children, 90 percent of whom had not contracted the virus, they came to realize that the children were being stigm atized by the disease that had killed their parents. Wandera told Iversen that the children at school would tease the orphans mercilessly, saying things like, “‘Ha, ha, your parents died of AIDS—you’re going to die of AIDS.’”  

“Children can be cruel,” I versen said. So the center added a school to the project and also a public education component: Wandera and the others in the group go out into the villages near the Good Spirit Centre to educate people about AIDS.  

The biannual conference that drew Iver sen to Kampala—this year it will be in Peru—aims at developing leadership among people living with HIV/AIDS.  

The workshop Iversen presented with South African Denis Matwa, from the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa, taught participants how to mo unt a campaign to achieve a limited, tangible goal. Iversen used as a model an initiative he organized to pressure Alameda Country officials to provide a larger space for an HIV/AIDS clinic. “I used that example because it was a concrete action on the gro und that could be replicated (and) didn’t involve civil disobedience where someone might get shot in another country,” he said.  

Participants learned the basics of soliciting endorsements, writing press releases, putting together background information, taking out paid advertisements and lobbying public officials.  

It was significant that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni spoke at the conference. Under the Museveni administration, there has been a drive to educate Ugandans on the spread of HIV/AIDS a nd advocacy for abstinence, fidelity and the use of condoms. The HIV infection rate has dropped in Uganda.  

When Vincent Wandera invited him to visit the Good Spirit orphanage in Mukono after the conference, Iversen said he was ambivalent, fearing that it would be depressing to be among the 300 orphaned children. But he was so impressed with Wandera’s selfless “love, earnestness and pride” in the center that he agreed to go.  

“(Wandera) spoke about children like he spoke of God—he sees God in children,” Iversen said. “I saw God in him.”  

And so, when a mud-splattered Iversen finally arrived there—the first leg of the 22 mile trek was on a paved road, but the second half was through a dirt road whose crevices forced the group to dismount from the hired car to push on several occasions—he saw why Wandera was so excited about the project. The children, in spotless uniforms, were proud of their school and the vegetable garden they planted to supplement their diet of mostly cornmeal porridge and the vanill a beans they grew as a cash crop.  

And they were happy to show off the new school building under construction. Some 60 volunteers came in on the weekends to build it, including making their own bricks. It was completed last July.  

The older children ar e housed on the site and the younger ones stay in homes in the surrounding countryside. Iversen says he feels compelled to help fund the project. “A small amount of money goes a long way,” he said. The salary of a teacher at the school is $50 per month; $ 25 buys bread for breakfast for 200 for four days. $100 buys enough corn flour to last four days.  

Iversen is holding two simultaneous fundraisers to help support the center. One is a benefit at the Unicorn Restaurant, 2533 Telegraph Ave., where the owne r is giving 25 percent of the tab to the center. Lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is priced around $10; dinner is 5-10 p.m. and costs about $25. The restaurant serves a mélange of Asian fare.  

The second fundraiser is a silent auction. A lis t of auction items appears on Craigslist at www.craigslist.org/eve/78853643.html and includes offerings as diverse as lunch for two at the Chez Panisse café, yoga classes, CDs and more. One can bid online (instructions are on Craigslist) or in person on June 22 at the Unicorn Restaurant.  

The fundraisers are co-sponsored by City Councilmembers Max Anderson, Darryl Moore, Linda Maio and the Priority Africa Network, ACT UP East Bay, Global LightWorks Foundation and others.  

Iversen hasn’t given up on the militancy for which he is well known. His arsenal of organizing tools is as diverse as the needs of people living with HIV/AIDS and the orphans they leave behind.  

He recalls the weeks he spent in the hospital in the early 90s during a very low point i n his life, when he had lost one-third of his body weight, weighed 116 pounds and was too weak to walk. “I know the suffering. It’s not something anyone should have to go through,” he said. “That motivates me.”  

Fundraiser for Good Spirit Support and Act ion Centre: June 22 at Unicorn Restaurant, 2533 Telegraph Ave. Dinner reservations suggested: 841-8098. Donations accepted at Act Up East Bay, P.O. Box 8074, Oakland, 94608. For information call 841-4339. ›i

The issue of fiscal oversight continued to provide the major heat at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Peralta Community Colleges Board of Trustees, this time with one of the more veteran board members lighting the fire. 

Three-year Trustee Linda Handy lit into Chief Information Officer Andy DiGirolamo’s revised report on $4.1 million in pending district-wide information technology projects. Handy told him, “I have no idea what these figures represent.” 

DiGirolamo’s 13-part PowerPoint presentation was a response to his May 24 budget presentation that four newly-elected members—Nicky Gonzalez Yuen, Cy Gulassa, and Bill Withrow—questioned. 

At the May meeting, Yuen voiced complaints when a spreadsheet report on the Measure E bond account contained bottom-line dollar figures without any details on how the money would be spent. The spreadsheet included a $1.4 million line item for Vista College New Building Networking and another $950,000 line item for the second phase conversion to PeopleSoft’s online management system. 

Measure E was the Peralta District’s $153.2 million repair, renovation, and construction bond passed by Alameda County voters in 2000. $128 million of that money has either been spent or committed to projects. 

DiGirolamo told Handy on Tuesday that the report was only intended as an overview of the planned projects, and that he would return to the board with the requested details at the time his office was actually requesting trustees to approve Measure E expenditures. 

Handy replied that she would prefer that DiGirolamo provide the board with the details earlier “just like we get from other staff members, like Sadiq [General Services Director Sadiq Ikharo] so that we can approve these expenditures in advance like we do with other Measure E funds.” 

When Harris called that a “reasonable request,” Handy replied that “I’ve been asking for that information since last September. It’s now June.” 

Handy said that she had been receiving queries from some of the district’s four colleges about unfinished Internet technology projects. Holding up DiGirolamo’s spreadsheet, she said “if we had a more thorough report, I could answer those questions” about what projects were still pending and what projects had been permanently dropped. 

Saying that he was unaware of many of the unfinished IT projects himself, DiGirolamo explained that many of them had been initiated by his predecessor “and we didn’t get some of that information passed on to us when I first came on board.” 

Trustees also closely questioned, but ultimately approved, close to $430,000 in extra costs associated with the $65 million Vista construction project. About $252,000 of that was for work done by HP Inspections over and above the San Jose company’s $300,000 contract. The extra inspection work had been done without prior approval from Peralta. 

General Counsel Thuy Nguyen confirmed that the HP work was a violation of the firm’s contract, which required prior approval of such extra work. 

General Services Director Ikharo told trustees that the inspections were federally-mandated for the type of building being constructed for Vista College, and that much of the extra billing covered overtime for inspection of steel that Peralta had requested be delivered early. Ikharo said that the early delivery had cut two months off the projected completion date of the project. 

“This translated into a saving for the district of between $2 million to $4 million,” he wrote in his report on the item. 

When Gulassa asked what type of precedent would be set if the board approved such an out-of-contract addition, Chancellor Harris said that it would only say to contractors “that you should proceed at your own risk. We will review such requests on a case by case basis. You may get it, or you may not get it.” 

Harris said that “even though the district may not be legally liable” to pay the money, he had recommended approval because “these were only technical violations of the contract” and “the work was necessary, and the district benefited from it.” 

Only Yuen voted against the HP additions, saying that “I don’t want to send a message to contractors that they can go out of budget and we’ll cover it. That’s irresponsible.” 

In action in closed session, trustees reported that they have approved the rehiring of Odell Johnson as interim President of Laney College for another year, or until a permanent president is found. Johnson has been serving on an interim basis after a previous stint as president of the college. Last month, the district narrowed the search for Johnson’s permanent replacement down to four finalists, none of whom were ultimately hired..

http://www.jfdefreitas.com/index.php?path=/00_Latest%20Work

CHAPELA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I was one of the authors of a letter that was critical of the research by Dr. Chapela regarding transgenes in Mexican corn. In our letter, we suggested that Dr. Chapela was probably correct in his assertion that there is contamination of native corn with transgenic corn—gene flow between the U.S. and Mexican corn is inevitable and has been going on for many years. Our critique focused on his assertion that the transgene had been moving from place to place within the genome. Because we are maize geneticist and do this kind of work all the time the flaws were pretty obvious. While subsequent studies may have shown that there is transgene contamination in Mexican corn, no one has shown that the transgenes move from place to place within the genome, nor has anyone shown the “contamination” has resulted in any loss of biodiversity. Our concern was not with discrediting Dr. Chapela, but with correcting a patently flawed analysis. What should we have done? Should we have ignored it, remained silent because Dr. Chapela was on the side of angels?  

Should some science get a free pass if it tells us what we want to hear? Sadly, Berkeley (and Washington D.C.) is full of people that do just that. They trust science only the extent that it reinforces their own preconceptions. 

Damon Lisch 

• 

HETCH HETCHY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Thanks to the foresight, hard work, and taxes paid by San Franciscans a hundred years ago, the Bay Area enjoys the sweetest, cleanest drinking water of anyplace on the planet. Go drink the water in any other big city and see if it doesn’t taste like treated sewerage compared to the cool, clear water from our Hetch Hetchy reservoir. 

I can only shake my head in astonishment at the mis-named “Environmental Defense” organization and others who campaign to destroy the O’Shaughnessy Dam, in order to “restore” Hetch Hetchy to its previous condition. Isn’t the environmental movement concerned with preserving and improving the quality of our air and water? For these Environmental Defense people, nothing good can be enjoyed, not even a refreshing glass of pure water. 

Bruce Joffe 

Piedmont 

• 

EXPLETIVES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

A few years ago, a respected newspaper would never have considered printing the expletive that appears in a letter of the June 14-16 edition of Daily Planet (“Pinkman in Paris”). 

I miss those days. 

Joan Mikkelsen 

• 

LIBRARIANS 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Eric Knudsen, in his column June 10 commentary “What’s in a Name?”, correctly points out that upon entering a library, many patrons falsely perceive any staff member within the library walls as a “librarian.” He goes on to say that library management should recognize and embrace this misperception by changing all job titles to various levels of the word “librarian.” Knudsen feels that such a title change will help all library staff to treat their colleagues with more respect than they currently receive under an organization that assigns some staff “lesser” titles such as “aide” or “assistant.” 

I wholeheartedly agree with Knudsen that all library staff should indeed value and respect each other, since the shared goal of all staff is to serve the needs of patrons. I would, however, like to point out a glaring omission in Knudsen’s column. What he fails to inform the reader is that the job title “librarian” is reserved for those staff members who hold a Master of Library Science (MLS) degree. Like most master’s degrees, the MLS is a post-baccalaureate program that typically takes two years or more of specialized study to complete. Library staff members with MLS degrees have been trained in areas such as reference, cataloging, management, children’s and young adult literature, and collection development. 

Titles such as “technician,” “aide,” and “assistant” are thus used to designate those staff members, who, while they may have years of experience and extensive knowledge of library processes, have not completed an MLS course of study. Without an MLS, these staff members are generally prohibited from obtaining a number of higher level positions. 

While library staff members do work for a common cause, not every member of the staff shares the same qualifications. Knudsen’s advocacy for an egalitarian use of a professional title is therefore misguided and unfair not only to those who have worked hard to achieve it, but also to patrons, who have a right to know that trained specialists are available to them. Similar to titles like doctor, engineer, or attorney-at-law, the title “librarian” should be reserved only for those who have earned the professional degree. 

Caralee Kahn 

• 

FLYING COTTAGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Your reference to “ZAB’s approval last month of the ‘Flying Cottage’ at 3045 Shattuck Ave.” is incorrect. The 3045 Shattuck proposal per se was not up for hearing; the ZAB voted only that the application could be approved at staff level. 

We have appealed the subsequent staff-level design review decision to the Design Review Committee, and it is on the DRC’s agenda for June 16. Whichever way the DRC votes, its decision will be appealed to the ZAB, the ZAB’s decision to the City Council, and perhaps the council’s decision to the Alameda County Superior Court. 

Since there is no design review of residential projects in residential districts, the project at 2901 Otis is quite different. The neighbors are lucky the developer didn’t ask for the full six stories the zoning code allows. 

The ZAB could have reined in the project by enforcing the code’s restrictions on locating parking spaces in the required yard, as they have many times over the years. Unfortunately, the ZAB threw away that important tool when it ignored the law to rule that 3045 Shattuck could be approved at staff level. Until the City Council takes action on this matter, we will see a string of similarly inappropriate “popup” buildings. 

Robert Lauriston 

• 

ELDER ABUSE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am writing in response to your publication of Ms. Helen Rippier Wheeler’s commentary in the June 14 edition of your paper. In her article, Ms. Wheeler seems to assert that Berkeley Public Library has weeded its materials on the topic of elder abuse. In fact, when I checked our holdings, I discovered that we have several relatively new books on the topic, as well as some that are more than just a few years old. The books are located throughout the system, including in Central’s circulating collection, in the Reference collection, and at branches. 

One powerful tool Ms. Wheeler does not mention employing in her search for materials on elder abuse is speaking with a librarian. Had she done so, she would have been presented with literally dozens of books that address the topic. An example of that type of book is the multi-volume Gale Encyclopedia of Health. While the library’s paper copy does not circulate, its full contents are available online, through our database subscriptions. Staff at all sites retrieve articles for patrons who cannot or do not want to work online. 

Several other factors seem to have come between Ms. Wheeler and her discovery of these materials. In her letter, Ms. Wheeler supplies a description of how she explored Berkeley Public Library’s catalog in its “Subject” mode, which requires the use of Library of Congress Subject Headings, and how she explored Alameda County Library system’s catalog apparently in “Keyword” mode, allowing her search terms to find a greater range of materials. In fact she could employ the Keyword strategy in Berkeley’s catalog as well as the two catalogs are constructed in the same way. 

Certainly Ms. Wheeler’s difficulty alerts us to the need to provide more and better subject headings. And certainly we want to hear from those using the library’s collections to compose resource lists who find our holdings substandard. We welcome suggestions for purchase both in writing or through the catalog’s opening screen link to “Suggest a Purchase.” Ms. Wheeler has shared her difficulties through your paper but has presented us with no specific suggestions for purchase. 

I hope that Berkeley Public Library users gain a better understanding of the fact that asking staff for research assistance can enrich the resources found to respond to their information needs, and that users become more aware that they are, indeed, empowered to make specific suggestions for improving what we can offer the public through our collections. 

Francisca Goldsmith 

Collection Management Librarian 

• 

UC SETTLEMENT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Peter Mutnick’s letter regarding Dean Metzger’s and my article on the UC settlement agrees with us on the big point: The city has entered into a ”miserable agreement.” 

But on one critical point, he does not see the deal as being quite so bad. The issue relates to what would happen if the Legislature or the courts suddenly allowed us to tax the university. Mr. Mutnick seems to think Berkeley would get the benefit of the change. But Section III-D of the document says that if the law changes the monetary obligations of UC “the parties shall renegotiate [to] maintain the same total amount of allocations, inclusive of any new obligation.” Since the “total amount of allocations” is $1,200,000, it is hard to see how the city could get more, even if the Legislature or the courts change their minds. The city has basically agreed to cap UC’s contribution for the next 15 years, while Santa Cruz, for example, has kept its options open. 

Mr. Mutnick also urges the city to violate the agreement, thereby forcing it to terminate, and ridding us of “bad rubbish.” While this may turn out to be an attractive alternative, we need to pay close attention to the “poison pill” provision. If the ultimate result is a challenge to the long range development plan, the University may be able to make us pay for its lawyers (of which there are many). 

It is a shame that none of this came to light during debates before the settlement was approved. But unhappily, the council kept everything secret until after it voted, depriving itself of Mr. Mutnick’s views, as well as our own.  

David Wilson. 

• 

MEDICAL MARIJUANA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

While seeing the issue of medical marijuana in the pages of the Daily Planet is appreciated, the pessimistic tone in “Medical Pot Users’ Hopes Dim After Ruling” (June 10) deserves rebuttal. 

While multiple petitions to reschedule marijuana have been rejected by the federal government, the article fails to mention the petition filed in 2002 and  

currently in front of the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Secretary Mike Leavitt recently stated that HHS would provide a decision on the rescheduling petition by August 2005. 

In addition, Americans for Safe Access (ASA), the nation’s largest medical marijuana patient advocacy organization, filed a petition in 2004 with HHS through a little-known administrative vehicle called the Data Quality Act. This Clinton-era policy allows people to challenge the data on which regulatory agencies rely. Since the federal government has ignored for decades the mountain of studies and evidence illustrating marijuana’s medical value, ASA is challenging HHS on the flawed data it uses. 

A poll released shortly after the Gonzales v. Raich decision (by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research Inc. of Washington, D.C.), showed that 68 percent of people said the federal government should not prosecute medical marijuana patients even though it has been given approval to do so. 

And in perhaps the plainest terms that describe the significance of this issue and the resolve by patients and advocates to persevere, days after the Raich decision came down, the Rhode Island Senate passed a medical marijuana bill by a vote of 34 to 2. So, even without the help of Congress and the Supreme Court,  

states will continue to pass legislation and initiatives to legalize medical marijuana. 

By no means is the fight over or lost. Just stay tuned! 

Kris Hermes 

Legal Campaign Director 

Oakland 

• 

CHANGING THE RULES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Do you change the rules at the end of the game because you don’t like who has won? 

Two years ago, a group of parents and teachers at Jefferson School decided they wanted to change the school name. They asked for the School Board’s policy for changing a facility name, and they followed the required procedures. At several points, the PTA. the principal, and pro-name change groups asked the board for interpretation of the policy. 

The question of student voting was one of those points. None of the groups at involved at the school site wanted the students to vote, but Superintendent Lawrence declared that the policy required student voting and, and so, there was student voting. The written board policy was followed every step of the way. 

The policy was not designed by anyone at the Jefferson School site. The current policy was adopted by the School Board in 1999, and was used in the renaming of Columbus as Rosa Parks School. If there were problems with the process, that was a quite recent opportunity for that school board to observe them and, later, amend the policy. 

A policy is changed before or after its implementation, but not during it. A question has been asked as to whether the broader community should have a voice in the process. Whether or not it should be involved in the process is not he issue before us now—the issue is following the current board policy. 

Now that staff, students and parents have voted, and Sequoia has been selected by each and every group as the new school name, the results have been presented to the School Board. Two School Board members have stated that they will follow district policy and approve the chosen name. The policy does not ask the board members to vote on the name; their role is to oversee the democratic process. Director Selawsky said, “The board should not be an endorsement of the school name; it should be based on whether or not the school community followed the board policy in reaching this vote.” 

Why are some other board members now suggesting violating their own process? If they do, it will send a clear and racist message that no matter how carefully certain people follow the rules, they cannot create peaceful, democratic change in the Berkeley Schools. Although the pro-name change group used talking, persuasion, and reason; although they affected people’s hearts and minds; although they prevailed in the selection of the name, certain board members would like to ignore and override their own policy... because they do not, personally, like the result of this democratic policy.  

Beverly Thiele 

Jefferson/Sequoia School Teacher 

• 

ALTA BATES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I used to hear conflicting reports about Alta Bates Summit Medical Center but my experience at this hospital have made me question the credibility of most criticisms against this hospital. 

My wife’s eight-day sojourn at this hospital shed more light on their competencies. The Labor and Delivery nurses/doctors are amazing. Everybody takes responsibility. 

My wife underwent intense labor after induction which was dramatic to me being a first time dad but the professional approach of the nurses/doctors gave me courage that it would end well and definitely it ended well. This same wonderful treatment was meted out to us by various nurses and doctors at the recovery section. 

I know many people might have different opinions which ultimately we all have right to but I think it is paramount to sift the facts from fictions before making a conclusion or judgment about the competency vis-à-vis adequacy of Alta Bates. 

Kudos for job well done to everyone there, we are now enjoying our little gorgeous girl Jordyn. 

John Tanwani. 

Antioch 

• 

FAITH 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Could it be that all the rancor over the Berkeley City Council’s “secret sellout” or “closed-door capitulation” vis-à-vis UC Berkeley’s 2020 Long Range Development Plan is overblown? 

I too originally saw the council’s vote on May 24 as a thoroughly embarrassing and humiliating action—more evidence that “the gown” really is swallowing this town. 

But then came the epiphany: What we really have witnessed is a faith-based settlement! 

Yes, UCB is a wonderful higher-education “door of opportunity” for tens of thousands, but it requires a municipal doormat to function properly. 

And that, in turn, requires a compliant council majority which has faith in the recommendations of their attorneys. 

And they, in turn, require constituents who have faith that their elected officials will do the right thing behind closed doors. 

And Berkeley as a whole requires citizens who faithfully believe their mayor’s assertions that the settlement is “the single best agreement between any city and public university in this state,” “a giant step forward towards a lasting and equal partnership,” and “will guide revitalization of the city’s core, protect historic resources, and encourage transit-friendly development.” 

Even for those who remain faithless doubters, there is still hope: The council’s vote on May 24 indicates that things are gradually turning your way. 

Note that in July 1990, the current council’s predecessors voted 9-0 to support UCB’s LRDP for the 2005/06 time horizon. This time, the vote was 6-3. In other words, you doubters picked up three votes in less than fifteen years!  

At this rate, doubters should have a solid majority by 2020. Have faith! 

Jim Sharp 

• 

DRAYAGE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It appears that the only action taken to ameliorate the alleged “problems” at the Drayage artisan community live-work space over the past two and one-half months has been the jack-booted assault upon it by the city’s over-zealous code-enforcement storm-troopers. 

Where are the planners, builders, designers, community assistance representatives, and other capable professionals within the city’s bureaucracy who are dedicated to furthering the city’s oft stated goals of protecting the ever dwindling affordable rental housing stock in this city? Is the true goal of our city fathers and mothers to transform Berkeley into Blackhawk? It sure seems more and more like that’s the plan.  

From me to the city officials, a succinct but serious message: Don’t just condemn it; rebuild it! Fix it! Love it! To date you have only taken totally negative and destructive action towards the Drayage community—do something positive! Slash and burn is not a housing policy. 

Dan Spitzer 

Kensington 

• 

JEFFERSON SCHOOL 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It seems the Jefferson School name controversy still continues, whether to replace Jefferson (a bad, bad man) with Sequoya (presumably a good man, although some say only Jesus was truly good). 

According to Webster’s Biographical Dictionary, Sequoya (c. 1770-1843) was a Cherokee who took the name George Guess, so wouldn’t Berkeley honor him better by giving the school the name he himself preferred, Guess rather than Sequoya? 

The name “Guess School” would do double duty by honoring also the current pop fad of using Multiple-Guess tests to determine the worth of students and schools. 

Another option is to avoid name controversies entirely by just numbering the schools, as New York City does (PS117, etc.). My friend Veronica suggests Berkeley use BS (”Berkeley School”) for its school numbers. In my own school days I attended Berkeley schools BS 3, BS12, and BS 15. 

David Eakin 

Richmond. 

• 

TRAFFIC CIRCLES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

As a resident of the Oceanview area of West Berkeley, I have a comment on the recently built traffic circles in this section of town. 

While walking home the other day after a morning’s shopping, I noticed that a “short/stubby” Company 6 Fire Truck (headquartered on Cedar Street) had to proceed rather slowly around one such circle, not on an emergency. Its driver could barely negotiate the circle. 

Suppose its crew had been “on call,” necessitating a speedy response? Further, suppose this smaller truck had been a much longer “hook and ladder.” Would the longer truck have had to drive over the circle, or would its driver have been obliged to take a pre-determined alternate route? 

My questions: What bureaucratic genius came up the this idea? Was it buried in the budget summarily passed by our all-knowing council? 

Please be particularly attentive in covering West Berkeley fires. The lawsuit which may ensue could/will cost us plenty, especially if I file it. 

Phil Allen 

• 

FRED LUPKE 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

You are correct that the “... keeping a warm water pool available” was a priority of the late Fred Lupke. However, Fred’s feelings on the pool as a project had evolved over time. I am a member of the BUSD Citizens Construction Oversight Committee. Fred attended our meetings regularly. He was an active participant in our discussions on the future of the high school’s south campus. Shortly before his death, Fred told our committee that he was concerned how the rehab of the building might impact the operation of the pool. He suggested that it might be preferable to consider relocating the pool rather than having to close it during construction. 

I do not know how the city and the district share responsibility for this pool but the existing building apparently has serious deficiencies that cannot be blamed on deferred maintenance and the pool itself supposedly needs significant work. If this is so then the recommendation in the south campus master plan that the existing warm pool be replaced with a new pool and building across the street seems worthy of further consideration, especially considering Fred’s desire that the warn pool’s operations not be interrupted. 

Carl Bridgers 

• 

MODERN-DAY SLAVERY 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am in complete agreement with Robin Berry’s May 31 letter. According to Kevin Bales, the author of Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy, there are at least 27 million slaves in the world today. 

We must educate ourselves about this issue and find out how to start bringing an end to this practice through boycotts and other means. Mr. Bales has established an American branch of “Anti-Slavery International” under the name of “Free the Slaves.” Please access his website www.freetheslaves.net. 

Carol Beth 

• 

AC TRANSIT 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

It is pure outrage that recent AC Transit election rhetoric featured the plight of seniors with regard to the adequacy and availability of public transit. We the electorate were given to understand that support for AC Transit meant support for seniors. Sustaining AC Transit meant sustaining seniors—providing for a reliable bus service, safe and accessible. Without such a service, many cannot live independently. 

I ride the bus almost daily and there has been a noticeable drop in the number of seniors choosing to make the trip. Who can blame them? The new Van Hool buses (common on our route) are a nightmare for anyone frail, anyone using a cane, or for that matter for any short adult toting a few grocery bags! Instead of sinking gratefully into the front seats, a less-than-able passenger is forced to negotiate a crowded aisle to reach the few spaces provided for the elderly. As this is a journey of many steps, with almost nothing to hold onto, finding one’s place could prove daunting, to say the least. Even then there is no guarantee that those spaces will not be fully occupied by passengers in wheelchairs. In order to continue the ride, what is recommended that the frail passenger do? Risk life and limb hoisting oneself up onto one of the wondrous “crow’s-nest” seats (a Van Hool specialty)? Cling desperately to the nearest available rider? Give up and sit on the floor? 

I refuse to believe that anyone charged with making the decision to purchase these new buses devoted even one moment’s thought to such things! And that is scandalous. All of us deserve better. 

Karen Keene 

Oakland 

• 

SPECIAL ELECTION 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

There is nothing altruistic about Gov. Schwarzenegger’s special election and it will do nothing to help working families or residents of California. Schwarzenegger’s special election is about increasing GOP power in California. This election is about power and politics, stupid. 

At his election proclamation speech Arnold said California is destined to have $22 billion deficits, higher car taxes and the threat of bankruptcy if we don’t follow his lead. Now the special election has turned on Proposition 13 as he warns elderly homeowners they could lose their houses to taxes if Democrats and union leaders get their way in the fall. This seems to be straight out of the Bush-Rove playbook. Scaring little old ladies, Arnold basing his campaign on fear-mongering, is there anything more pathetic?  

Republicans are giddy with anticipation over the prospect of a special election. Democrats and Californians need to wake up and see this for what it is. 

Ron Lowe 

Nevada City 

• 

VOTING MACHINES 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

I am extremely disappointed to learn that Gov. Schwarzenegger has disregarded polls and feedback and decided to have a special election in November 2005, despite indications that the majority of Californians oppose such an election. 

The special election brings up an important question: Will Californians be using the same electronic voting machines that we used in the circus of a recall, when we either did or did not elect Schwarzenegger to replace Gov. Davis? Then-Secretary of State Kevin Shelley made a highly controversial decision that Californians would not be using electronic voting machines in future elections until the voting machines could provide a voter-verified paper trail. However, Shelley has since resigned, and I have not heard much regarding his successor, whom Schwarzenegger has appointed. 

I call on the California Legislature to assure that during the special election in November 2005, Californians use voting machines that provide a voter-verified paper trail. One wonders why Schwarzenegger is pushing ahead with the special election in the face of such opposition and at such an expense. A very real possibility exists that one reason Schwarzenegger wants to have a special election is to force a vote on his initiatives before California has a more transparent voting system, and this possibility has dramatic implications for the health of our democracy. 

Lara Wright 

• 

KPFA 

Editors, Daily Planet: 

Matthew Artz’s piece, “Former KPFA Employee Charges Sex Discrimination,” may address Dennis Bernstein’s curious behavior with me several years ago. I called him about a story I thought he might be interested in. He said he was, indeed, and suggested we attend a rally together in San Francisco. I thought that was unusual, but it was a cause I supported, I figured he didn’t have much free time, and we could talk there. 

So we spoke about my story, but I wasn’t sure how much he was listening. When we BARTed back to the East Bay Bernstein suggested we stop for a bite at Pasta Pomodoro. This seemed more like a venue for discussing the story and we did so and not once did I get chummy or much off topic and we certainly didn’t discuss literature. So I was a bit shocked when Bernstein asked me to his apartment to listen to him read his poetry. I declined as nicely as possible and I never heard from him again. 

Kathleen Roberts

Jefferson, Washington, Longfellow, Emerson, Malcolm X—how much do our school children really know about any of these famous figures? Have they memorized any of Emerson’s poems? Can they quote Longfellow? Everyone is familiar with the “I Have A Dream” spe ech, but are our kids learning about Martin Luther King’s stance against the Vietnam war or the common ground he shared with Malcolm X? And speaking of Malcolm, have our students ever actually listened to his powerful oratory in their classes? Have they d iscussed the reasons for his rage or how his perspective shifted after his pilgrimage to Mecca? How meaningful are any of these school names? 

The parents, staff and students at Jefferson Elementary School have voted to trade in old Thomas for some Sequoi a trees. I probably wouldn’t be proud of attending a school named after such a hypocrite either. How could a man who wrote “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal” reconcile his advocacy for individual freedom with his owne rship of almost 200 human beings? Not only that, but with his fathering of five children with his own very personal property, Sally Hemmings—all of whom he kept as slaves until shortly before his death. Jefferson didn’t free his other slaves. Claimed he couldn’t afford it. Too much debt. So, they stayed and suffered and toiled and were sold off to other slave owners.  

In this regard, Jefferson was not unlike that other famous slave owner and Berkeley school namesake, George Washington. George Washington, along with his wife, Martha owned 317 human beings. Ninety-eight were children under the age of 12. Ninety-five were females age 13 and up. Eighty-four were males, age 13 and up. Some of these enslaved people were inherited, others were purchased. Washin gton is said to have believed in the “gradual abolition” of slavery. Unlike Jefferson, Washington did not free his slaves upon his death. He wanted Martha to be comfortable, so it took another three years until after her death before these 317 human being s would be freed from the shackles of slavery. 

I understand that Sequoia won out over Cesar Chavez, Ralph Bunche, Sojourner Truth and Florence MacDonald. Why is that? Were these brave activists too controversial? Too meaningful? Too reflective of the Berkeley community? And just what does Berkeley stand for, anyway? 

Well, it seems that Bishop George Berkeley, for whom our fine town is named, was a philosopher, mathematician, minister and—surprise!—just like Jefferson and Washington, a slave owner. Born in Ireland, George Berkeley developed a philosophy commonly referred to as “theological idealism.” Simply put, he believed that we exist in an immaterial world of ideas wherein everything is generated by consciousness. Perhaps the notion that blacks and I ndians were people, too, was beyond the realm of his consciousness. Berkeley supported slavery and came up with the bright idea of kidnapping Native American boys and taking them to Bermuda where he planned to indoctrinate them into Christianity without t he interference of their parents. He failed to get funding for this project so instead he bought a farm in Rhode Island, named Whitehall, and set up residence there with his wife, sons and slaves. Years later, he returned to England and left his farm, hom e and slaves to Yale University. Yale used the profits from free slave labor to fund scholarships for students excelling in Greek and Latin. These Berkeley-slave scholarships are still being awarded to this day. 

Does this bit of history mean that we shou ld change the name of our city as well? How about some of our streets, like Dwight Way for example? Timothy Dwight—coincidentally, a former Yale president—also owned a slave, a young girl. Imagine the terror in a young girl’s mind, standing alone before a n alien adult male who is greedily looking her over from head to toe, wanting her and then deciding to purchase her for his own private, unregulated use. I’m not saying that Dwight was a pedophile or a rapist but it did happen—was common, in fact, for sla vers to purchase girls and boys for their sexual fulfillment. Where do you think all of the “mulattos” came from? 

If we’re going to go through the time, trouble and expense of a public school name change, let’s make it meaningful! Of our 14 public school s, only one is named after a female. That school, Rosa Parks Elementary had to go through a name change, too. The meaningful word here is “change.” Like most schools across the nation, our schools were named for white males chosen by other white males. It is past time to update our definition of heroes to include more females and people of color and perhaps to discard some who do not measure up to today’s standards. If the idea behind Sequoia is to embrace a Native American tribe, that is not sufficient. It would be better to choose the name of an accomplished Native American individual than to select a name most people will identify with trees. But if Sequoia it is, let’s make it more meaningful by actually planting more trees in the working class neighb orhoods of West and South Berkeley which are seriously lacking in trees, parks and open space.  

And if we want to change any more school names, I vote for Sally Hemmings High or perhaps, if it’s not too late, Hemmings-Jefferson Elementary School. By hyphenating the two, we acknowledge the two worlds from which they came—the owner and the slave—irreparably interwoven, each with their own contradictions. Not unlike the rest of us. 

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In an Internet discussion that followed one of my columns on Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown’s recent proposed “arrest the sideshow spectators” ordinance, one observer called my views on the subject “shameless nonsense” and “callous, illogical and overly fixated on Jerry Brown. …The inability to see the trauma inflicted on neighborhoods by this kind of criminal activity [the sideshows] tells me that Jesse must be so anti-Jerry Brown that he can’t think straight. If the mayor were to suddenly become in favor of legalizing sideshows, Jesse Douglas Allen-Taylor would probably be his biggest critic.” 

I do find myself generally opposed to Mr. Brown’s Oakland policies. That doesn’t grow out of any personal dislike for the mayor—if I have obsessions, he isn’t one of them—but is probably attributable to the fact that I have a basic disagreement with what I believe is Mr. Brown’s overall vision for Oakland. 

It appears to me that the mayor is one of those many people who come to Oakland, look around, and think, man, this would be such a great place, except for some of them damn Oaklanders. I’ve never heard Mr. Brown actually say that. I’m just deducing it from the fact that so many of his policies seem specifically designed to drive whole sections of Oaklanders out of Oakland, either directly or indirectly, to be replaced with people who don’t presently live here. 

Oakland needs to make many changes, true. Some of our city policies need to change. And some of us sure need to change, as well. But first and foremost, before benefiting anybody else, I think those changes ought to make things better for those people who already make this city their home. 

That’s where me and Mr. Brown differ, I believe. And that’s why I don’t see the sideshows as a problem. I see them as an opportunity. 

No matter which side of the argument you fall on, most people would agree that a good portion of Oakland’s potential civic progress in recent years has stumbled over conflicts with our African-American youth. The city’s two most successful community festivals, Festival at the Lake and Carijama—you could even say that these were two of the most successful community festivals in the state, in fact—were both abolished after street clashes between black youth and Oakland police. And leaving aside the horrific loss of human life (which I do not ever mean to minimize) and the disruption of our communities, the next greatest casualty of Oakland’s staggering murder rate—anchored by young black men killing young black men—is Oakland’s image. It’s hard to get investors excited about a city where newspaper articles total up shooting deaths like other cities tally touchdown passes or home runs. 

If you take a few minutes to talk to young black people in Oakland, you’ll find out that they’re catching it from both ends. They’ll tell you that it’s a small, hard core of knuckleheads and troublemakers that are fueling the city’s violence. It only takes two people to start a fight, after all, or one person to pull out a gun and start shooting. But it’s the general black youth community that suffers a triple hit, first as the primary victims of both the violence and the climate of violence—how do you think it feels, being always you might get shot or beaten up merely because you went to a high school dance?—then as targets of stereotyping both by the police and the general public, and finally when activities catering to black youth are curtailed or eliminated altogether because adults think that if you stop the gatherings, you’ll stop the problem. 

That, after all, was how the Eastmont Mall era of the sideshows got started in the late ‘90s—black youth looking for a safe place where they could gather with their friends, show off their cars, and not bother anybody. And before the Oakland police pushed the sideshows out of Eastmont and over to Pac’N’Save on Hegenberger and then onto the city streets, it worked pretty good. 

City officials themselves give a grudging acknowledgment to this history. In her background report prepared for the mayor’s “arrest the spectators” ordinance, City Manager Deborah Edgerly wrote earlier this month that “the Police Department has always understand that a sequence of ‘innocent activities’ are touted as the root of the ‘Sideshow.’” And former Police Chief Richard Word at least twice said publicly that pushing the sideshows off the parking lots and into the streets was a “mistake.” 

Although there are no guarantees, putting Oakland on the path of searching for a safe, sanctioned, legal version of the sideshow might help do several things. 

First, it might reverse that “mistake” which former Chief Word admitted, starting the sideshows on the road back towards that original vision of “innocent” social gatherings both free of violence and blending in with other community activities. 

Second, setting up sanctioned sideshows might allow Oakland to nurture—and take advantage of—many of the skills being displayed during these events. 

As just one example: Spinning a donut in a car in the middle of the street has always seemed to me a dumb thing to do. I’ve never seen the purpose of it. But I’ve talked with longtime sideshow participants about the maneuvers, and come away deeply impressed with the knowledge that many of them possess of mechanics, and physics, and aerodymamics, some of it explainable, some of it simply intuitive. I have no idea where such knowledge might have practical application. Space travel? Rapid transit design? This is far outside my area of expertise. But I can see that there are some bright young minds making dark circles round and round in our city’s pavements, and if we were smart enough, we would figure out away to put those minds to some beneficial use, both to the possessors of those minds themselves, and to our community at large. 

Another set of skills growing up around Oakland’s unsanctioned street sideshows is an entire video production industry. Some of the productions are trash but some of them—I cite the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Award winning Sidewayz as one of the most positive examples—show tremendous potential. With the Wayans brothers presently considering making Oakland a headquarters for their film production companies, Oakland might easily figure out a way to reforge ourselves into a nationally recognized film production center, with local talent at its center. 

But perhaps the most important reason for Oakland promoting a sanctioned, legal sideshow alternative is that it might give many African-American youth a stake in the development of this city, and that would help turn a huge Oakland negative into a positive. For those who would like to push out of Oakland all the elements they don’t particularly like, that won’t be much of a help. But for those of us who want to make Oakland better for the Oaklanders who are already here, it’s the best reason of all. 

For that reason alone, it’s worth a shot. 

?

Strong-Arm Carjackers 

The strong-arm robbery of a Berkeley man by a pair of teenage bandits at his Wheeler Street residence Monday afternoon turned into a carjacking when the robbers used his keys, which they stole, to make off with his Dodge Caravan, said Berkeley police spokesperson Officer Joe Okies. 

Robber’s Second Thoughts 

The knife-wielding robber who confronted another woman outside the Andronico’s Market in the 1500 block of Shattuck Avenue Tuesday afternoon apparently had second thoughts when she discovered her would-be victim was 80 years old. 

The robber abandoned her crime and her would-be victim departed with all of her belongings. 

Shirt Heist 

A tall man with a hankering for a new shirt fought off a Berkeley Mart employee who tried to stop him as he absconded with his new garment Wednesday evening, transforming a comparatively mild shoplifting charge into a far more serious count of robbery. 

The felonious booster fled the 2430 Shattuck Ave. shop with his ill-gotten gain, and no arrests have been made. 

Injured Cyclist 

A motorcyclist sustained minor injuries when he collided with a car at the intersection of Ashby Avenue and Ashby Place at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. 

No one has been charged in the accident, said Officer Okies. 

Botched Robbery 

A Berkeley man successfully fended off a gang of five teenage robbers who accosted him near the corner of Sacramento and Cedar streets about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Flames seared several acres of the Albany Bulb Tuesday evening before crews from the East Bay Regional Parks District were able to bring them under control. 

Capt. John Weitzel of the Albany Fire Department said no one was injured in the blaze, which began about 5:30 p.m. 

The Bulb, which is currently owned by the City of Albany, is in the process of being transferred to the Eastshore State Park.

An article on the settlement of the Berkeley High expulsion discrimination lawsuit in the June 7-9 issue misidentified Berkeley Organizing Congregations for Action. S

On May 9, over 200 residents filled the North Oakland Senior Center for a meeting called by the city’s Redevelopment Agency on expanding the existing MacArthur/ Broadway/San Pablo Redevelopment Area north to the Berkeley border so as to abate the “blight”.  

Declaring most of North Oakland, including the Telegraph and Broadway commercial corridors, “blighted” seems absurd. Even the agency’s “poll” of those present revealed a 60 percent to 40 percent majority against redevelopment. But the Redevelopment Bandwagon continues as if the meeting never happened. What gives?  

North Oakland is not “blighted.” Private capital is flooding in, from smaller projects like the Nomad Cafe to the Lawton Associates’ condominium tower in Temescal. Three hundered and fourteen units of privately funded condominium units are in the pipeline or underway along San Pablo Avenue from 40th Street to the Berkeley border .  

Oakland Councilmember Jane Brunner ardently embraces the concept of the transit village at MacArthur BART—the centerpiece of the existing redevelopment area and impetus for expansion. Paradoxically, Brunner did allow in a May 25 letter to constituents that the expansion area under consideration was “without significant blight.”  

This transit village is little more than a concept, having been through many iterations and developers, including having a Target as anchor. (The state frowned upon trip-generating big box retail, so good-bye Target.) Current plans call for 500 to 1,000 units of housing. Underground parking alone has been estimated to cost $25 million.  

The attraction for Redevelopment staff of the areas of North Oakland where single family homes are selling for $400,000 to $800,000, many doubling or more in value the last five years, is not to correct “blight,” but to capture “tax increment” money as the reassessed value of property greatly increases.  

A Dec. 22, 2004 memorandum from Redevelopment Agency staffer Kathy Kleinbaum succinctly lays out the reasons for adding these areas:  

Expanding the boundaries would result in a significant increase in tax increment revenues which could help fund the major projects that are currently planned including the MacArthur Transit Village or Telegraph Streetscape improvements. Staff estimated that over the life of the project, the present tax value of tax increment revenues to the city from the amendment area would be approximately $385 million. The existing area is projected to generate $155 million over the same period.  

Expanding the boundaries would create a more stable tax increment base from which to issue tax increment revenue bonds. Bonding entities are concerned when there is too large a concentration of ownership among a few property owners. 

Even an expanded redevelopment area doesn’t solve the funding problems of the MacArthur Transit Village. Bonds can be issued for no more than 10 times the annual income from the area, currently projected to be $4.9 million in the next five-year project cycle.  

Is it NIMBY to quibble about elected officials and staffers, many of whom live in single-family homes with yards on tree-lined streets assuming those less fortunate want to live like sardines on noisy, polluted arterials?  

The new $100-million-plus Fruitvale Transit Village, funded by local, state, and federal sources, is the local lodestar of transit villages, even though office space is still apparently unleased, some of the 47 housing units are unrented, and some ground floor fast food has folded. On a recent weekend, people soaking up the sun preferred unredeveloped International Boulevard to the Fruitvale Village mall.  

The Fruitvale Transit Village, with 47 housing unit,s is not a “transit village.” With offices for everything from non-profits to a city senior center and library, the “village” is more a satellite government outpost.  

Redevelopment is being unabashedly pushed as the magic wand for every urban ill, including shortages of cafes and police. To hear Redevelopment staff tell it, their product may even cure the common cold. But those who rashly gulp the redevelopment Kool-Aid are going to be in for a rude shock: Their pet projects are nothing next to the 5,000-pound money-sucking sponge of a transit village!  

Staff sidesteps the quasi-permanent nature of redevelopment: 45-year terms that are easily extended. The money that redevelopment captures is money that otherwise would have gone to the city’s chronically strapped General Fund. The areas of the city that are too wealthy to “qualify” for redevelopment like Rockridge or Temescal end up disproportionately paying for the services—police, fire, schools, libraries, sidewalks—that the General Fund supports.  

The issues of fairness and starving the General Fund are the reasons the Piedmont Avenue Neighborhood Improvement League (PANIL) steering committee voted to oppose expansion.  

Draconian redevelopment tools like eminent domain are glossed over. Project Area Committee (PAC) minutes since 2000 reveal an ongoing, unsuccessful effort by members and residents to add protections for single family residences. Staff refused, suggesting waiting “until the appropriate time” for such language to be included.  

At the May 18 meeting, Jane Brunner seemed surprised housing wasn’t protected at the time of the inception of the PAC and redevelopment district, although she has suggested curbs on eminent domain were left out to target MacArthur Boulevard motels.  

The Dec. 22 Kleinbaum memorandum makes explicit the status of eminent domain:  

“The primary concern about redevelopment for most neighborhoods is the potential uses of eminent domain on residential properties. The Broadway/MacArthur/San Pablo Redevelopment Plan does not place any restriction on the use of eminent domain. If this is a major concern voiced by the community, there are a number of policy options for the new amendment area that can be adopted...”  

Eminent domain IS a big issue: Housing exists on all the arterials and some like Market and West Streets are predominantly residential. Shattuck Ave. in Oakland is also mostly residential. Even residents of side streets face the impacts of large projects on major corridors.  

View a local example of redevelopment: the ranch-style housing at Stanford and Adeline, a redevelopment zone from the 1970s that displaced most of the residents and demolished their “blighted’ housing. Then compare the sales prices and curb appeal of the “ranchers” to those of the remaining Victorians and Craftsmans nearby.  

Robert Brokl is a North Oakland resident.?

The City of Berkeley recently entered into a settlement with the University of California regarding the 2020 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP). In the aftermath of this agreement, there have been many opinions expressed on this issue. As someone actively involved in the LRDP process, I wanted to offer my perspective on the settlement and the impact that it will have on the future of Berkeley.  

Many residents were optimistic that the city’s lawsuit over the LRDP would address our mutual concerns over development and transportation issues. However, in reviewing the settlement agreement there are some glaring omissions.  

Throughout the planning process, many residents expressed strong concern over the dramatic increase in parking proposed in the LRDP. Nevertheless, the plan did not proposes ways of minimizing the impacts that new parking spaces will bring to Berkeley’s already congested streets.  

UC’s New Century Plan commits to reducing the drive-alone rate by 5 percent every year. Yet, building 2,300 new parking spaces will not meet this objective. The university did not make a commitment to a zero net increase in single occupancy vehicle trips. Why could the City of Berkeley not incorporate this goal in its settlement?  

In order to minimize the traffic impacts associated with new automobile trips, the university had the ability to dedicate funding to address these problems. Local residents and UC staff suggested that the university fund a free and universal BEAR Pass program. Also, many community members advocated for a BART pass program for both faculty and students. Nevertheless, the university and the city overlooked these suggestions in the settlement.  

UC Berkeley must not only be a leader in higher education but also in transportation planning. While the city negotiated a reduction in the number of parking spaces from 1,800 to 1,275 in the settlement, there is no firm commitment that UC will not build more parking spaces in the future. Also, this is contingent on the implementation of a rapid bus service down Telegraph Avenue. If other cities or even AC Transit fail to agree to this, then the university will proceed with building 2,300 spaces.  

Additionally, the 1.2 million dollars in the settlement is a little over the 1.1 million initially offered by UC in January. While I am happy that the city and UC will also collaborate on a new Downtown Area Plan, I have two concerns. I am concerned over the scope of the development that may be proposed in this plan. Also, the plan could fall apart if UC simply rejects it.  

Also, the entire process excluded residents from having their voices heard. While there were countless public hearings, very few of the 300 comments offered by Berkeley residents and students were incorporated in the final plan. Also, the signing of a confidentiality agreement excluded the public from commenting on the settlement before it was approved. While the mayor strongly opposed this move, I urge the City Council to set a policy so that this will never happen again. 

While I want to commend Mayor Tom Bates and the city government to bringing the lawsuit to resolution, I ultimately feel that the city settled for too little and too fast. While settling this dispute is a positive step towards building a collaborative relationship between the city and UC Berkeley, ultimately the citizens of Berkeley gained very little from this agreement and UC will continue to build without bringing all sides to the table.  

Jesse Arreguin is the ASUC city affairs director and a Berkeley city official.  

I live in North Berkeley near Hopkins street. I observed Berkeley Unified School District personages cleaning up and repairing a school yard at Hopkins and Josephine street over the Memorial Day weekend. I commend them on their efforts to work both Saturday and Sunday of this weekend, but question some of their actions. 

On the Hopkins Street side of this school yard, the fence is dilapidated and supported with 2x4 lumber to keep it from falling down—and yet, these same BUSD personages repaired the interior of this fence—very nicely I would add—but did not repair the fence on the street side, or repair the fence posts so the fence may stand on its own without support. Why repair the interior of a fence, that must have cost close to $1,000 for wood and labor, and yet is in great disrepair and will founder under the slightest wind against this fence? I inquired and was told this was a temporary arrangement as the fence would be replaced within a few months time with a chain-link fence! So again, why spend $1,000 to repair a fence that is to be torn down and replaced entirely? This is ludicrous and someone in the BUSD administration is lacking brain cells! Is this the kind of school district we want? To repair and spend money on a fence that is to be torn down, to pay for weekend (overtime) maintenance/gardener wages, to see these persons waste their time?? 

If this is how the BUSD management runs things, perhaps we should have a new management in those offices on MLK Way!  

Furthermore, I do not believe it is wise to replace this partially repaired fence with a chain-link fence. There are small children in that yard, and such open visible exposure to the street might be unwise. Since half of this same fence is repaired—the interior side of the fence—why not replace the fence posts and exterior street side—and this would cost less than having these same personages spend another (overtime) weekend to remove the old repaired fence and replace it with a chain-link fence.... this is utter stupidity in my opinion to spend such money and time only to tear it down and replace it entirely. If this kind of management thinking occurs throughout BUSD, no wonder our schools need more money, as they throw it away like the weeds they removed from this same yard.... 

Karl Jensen is a Berkeley resident. n

In a lowdown cellar bar, a bartender, bleary-eyed and mumbling in German, slams on the lights and opens the heavy iron door for a piano player, who’s just come down the stairs and rapped. Not a word’s spoken as the pianist sits on the piano bench and looks long at the bartender, hunched over in a chair, then wielding a pushbroom, finally opening the door as two younger men pile downstairs. 

A pair of sad eyes appears at the grille in the door, opening to admit Jenny, anti-heroine of The Threepenny Opera and Mahagonny, played by Bebe Neuwirth (of TV’s Cheers) in a confabulated, well-staged song cycle of Kurt Weill’s extraordinary tunes, Here Lies Jenny, through June 26 at San Francisco’s Post Street Theatre. 

The staging is the brainchild of Roger Rees, who also directs. 

Neuwirth plays the Jenny Diver-Pirate Jenny character from the Brecht-Weill “musical theatricals,” singing, dancing and playing her way through an amazing 21 numbers that span Weill’s career, from Weimar Republic Berlin to Broadway, with lyrics by such poets and lyricists as Bertolt Brecht, Langston Hughes, Ira Gershwin, Ogden Nash, Alan Jay Lerner and the medieval Spanish Hebrew poet Jehuda Halevi. 

With particularly strong support from Broadway stalwarts Angelo Fraboni and Dennis Stowe as John and Jim and excellent Martin Vidnovic as bartender Jeorge making a fine male chorus and corps-du-ballet, Neuwirth takes her Jenny character through “Bilbao Song,” “Je ne t’aime pas,” “The Tale of the Soldier’s Wife,” “The Saga of Jenny” (while the men sing “Don’t Be Afraid” and part of “The Army Song” to her) without a storyline or word of real dialogue. The production lets the songs speak—through the actors, the staging, the set itself, the values of the production. Even San Franciscan pianist Diane Hidy is in character, adding much both musically and as a sometimes silent presence. 

In some ways, it’s too much of a good thing. The impressive range of the material, from shows widely separated in time, theme, if not always in musical flavor and an underlying sensibility, overwhelm Neuwirth’s talents as a comedienne and her ability to focus on the often ironic, bittersweet lyrics that pose as being conversational, tossed off. She gamely runs the gamut, but her thin, nasal, palettized singing can’t do the numbers justice—and she makes the mistake of trying to act through the songs, not letting them act through her (an old complaint of Elizabeth Hardwick’s, about the New York theater of 40 years ago). Often, her most eloquent moments are the static, silent ones at the end or between the numbers.  

Naturally, taking on such an ambitious project would expose any performer to comparisons with Weill’s widow, Lotte Lenya, whose knowing, world-weary recitation originated many of these tunes in both German and English, with what many think their definitive rendering. But even a few weeks ago in Berkeley, mezzo Joan Morris, giving the Bloch Lectures at UC with her husband and collaborator, composer William Bolcom, at the keyboard, showed what it means to make a song one’s own by opening the final lecture (on American Cabaret style) with Brecht and Weill’s “Surabaya Johnny,” in the same translation (Michael Feingold’s) Neuwirth sang, but bringing out every nuance, from tenderness to rage, of this haunting, contradictory tune.  

“Surabaya Johnny” was one of Bebe Neuwirth’s finer numbers; but as “An Actress That Sings” (the title of Joan Morris’ unpublished memoir), she tends towards the “bitty.”  

Some moments—like Jenny exclaiming “You can’t just let a man walk over you!”—are striking, but finally don’t resonate with the others. In the end, there’s less a sense of a song cycle than of a series of sketches, or the sketch of a bigger musical theater project. 

Roger Rees is a talent to watch; this kind of vaudevillized chamber play, compressing so much into a small space and short time, may yet see him in top form. Bebe Neuwirth—a talented and very professional actress—unfortunately sings with just the top of her voice, lacking flavor, leaving only impressions of what might have been. 

Here Lies Jenny runs through June 26 at the Post Street Theatre, 450 Post St., San Francisco. $45-$60. (415) 771-6900 or www.poststreettheatre.com.m

Being a condemned prisoner, I’m viewed among the least able to qualify as a promoter of redemption and of peace. But the most wretched among society can be redeemed, and find peace, and reach out to others to lift them up. Real redemption cannot be faked or intellectualized. It must be subjective: experienced, then shared. 

— Stanley Tookie Williams 

from the preface to his autobiography, Blue Rage, Black Redemption 

Selections from Blue Rage, Black Redemption and other books by Stanley Tookie Williams will be read by San Francisco supervisor and former mayoral candidate Matt Gonzalez, Williams’ editor Barbara Becnell and others at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Moe’s Books on Telegraph Avenue. 

The event, co-produced by Amnesty International, is part of the Monday At Moe’s reading series. Williams was, as a teenager, co-founder of the Crips gang in South Central Los Angeles, and, since incarceration on San Quentin’s Death Row, has been an author and advocate of gang intervention and self-rehabilation. He has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and the Nobel Prize in Literature. 

Williams has published eight books, subtitled Tookie Speaks Out Against Gangs, for elementary school students since 1996 with subjects like “Wanting To Belong,” “Neighborhoods,” “Violence” and “Drugs.” 

His book for middle school students, Life in Prison, which was honored by the American Library Association, “tells what a day in prison is like, disabusing the reader of any romanticizing of what, to so many kids, has become a badge of honor,” said Summer Brenner, a literacy tutor for at-risk children and teens in West Contra Costa County and an organizer of the reading. 

Brenner said the books are useful tools in teaching and have led to a television film Redemption about Williams’ odyssey through gang violence and the legal system to self-awareness and intervention. The film, available on DVD, was produced by Becnell and stars Academy Award-winning actor Jamie Foxx as Williams. It has been shown to U.S. military personnel in Iraq. 

“His time in prison becomes an interior journey,” Brenner said. “He learns to read, becomes a writer—a direct message of what it means to have the time to get to know yourself without the distractions of drugs, violence, social disinformation.” 

The book Blue Rage, Black Redemption, for high school students and adults, was released in April of this year and is already being used in schools. 

“In Chicago, the vice superintendent created a program around it for the principals of the 25 most at-risk schools,” commented Becnell. “They in turn took it to their teachers, who will work with their students using it.” 

Summer Brenner characterizes Blue Rage, Black Redemption’s evolution of emotional tone: “it ranges from anger to self-awareness, with a sense of the loss of childhood love of curiosity beaten out of him by his environment ... a step-by-step evolution of a human being from a defensive to an offensive stance.” 

“He insisted the book come out first in paperback, so prisoners, who can’t receive hardcover books sent to them, could read it,” said Becnell. 

Williams has been incarcerated since 1979. Becnell said he has “had nothing to do with the spread of the Crips and other gangs to the national level during the crack cocaine explosion in the ‘80s.” 

His appeal has been denied by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. His petition is currently before the Supreme Court. If the Court refuses to hear his case, or doesn’t grant Williams a new trial, “a date for execution will be set,” said Brenner, “possibly late this year.”  

She said, “He’s never denied the criminality of his background, but protests his innocence of the charges he was convicted of.” 

Williams has attracted the attention and respect of the member of Swiss parliament who nominated him for the Nobel Prize, educators and literature professors who’ve taught his books, and advocates of a moratorium for the death penalty from all over the political spectrum (including members of Congress and state legislatures). 

His own dedication is clear in a passage from Blue Rage, Black Redemption: “To poor people, prisoners, slaves and the disenfranchised everywhere—through faith and theories put into practice, you can bend the most oppressive circumstances to your will, to make the impossible possible.”

FRIDAY, JUNE 17 

THEATER 

Antares Ensemble “Hellenic Image” choruses and monologues from Greek tragedies at 8 p.m. at the Berkeley City Club. Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 p.m. through June 26. Tickets are $10-$35. 525-3254.  

Aurora Theatre “The Thousandth Night” Wed.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. 2 and 7 p.m., through July 24, at 2081 Addison St. Tickets are $36. 843-4822. www.auroratheatre.org 

Berkeley Rep, “Honour” opens at the Thrust Stage, 2025 Addison St. and runs through July 3. Tickets are $20-$39. 647-2949. www.berkeleyrep.org 

California Shakespeare Theater, “Othello” at 8 p.m. at Bruns Amphitheater, 100 Gateway Blvd., between Berkeley and Orinda, through July 3. Tickets are $10-$55. 548-9666. www.calshakes.org 

Grand Kabuki Theater of Japan at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $40-$125. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Shotgun Players, “Arabian Night” Thurs.-Su. at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave. until July 10. Tickets are $10-$30. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

Subterranean Shakespeare “The Taming of the Shrew,” Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m. at Berkeley Art Center in Live Oak Park, through June 24. 276-3871. 

Traveling Jewish Theater, “Cherry Docs” at the Julia Morgan Theater, Thurs.-Sat. at 8 p.m., Sun. at 2 and 7 p.m., through June 19. Tickets are $12-$35. www.atjt.com 

Un-Scripted Theater Company “The Short and the Long of It” Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., through June 25 at Temescal Arts Center, 511 48th St., Oakland. Tickets are $7-$10. 415-869-5384. www.un-scripted.com 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

“Hip-Hop Culture, Politics and Social Justice” a discussion with with authors Adam Mansbach, Jeff Chang, Tricia Rose and Bakari Kitwana at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Celebrating the Summer Solstice with Vierne’s “Pieces de Fantasie” David Hatt, organist, at 7:30 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. Suggested donation $10. 444-3555. 

Ruth Botchan Dance Company “More Matters of Life and Death” at 8 p.m. at Western Sky Studio, 2525 Eighth St. Tickets are $18-$20. 848-4878.  

La Peña Community Chorus celebrates La Peña’s 30th Anniversary at 8 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $10-$15.. 849-2568.  

Robin Erickson and Rebecca Boblak, violin and piano, at 8 p.m. at Giorgi Gallery, 2911 Claremont Ave. 845-6811. 

Graham Richards, Ellen Robinson Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Carolyn Aiken at 8 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Drunken Spacemen, The Ghostt, Bad Habitz at 9 p.m. at The Oakland Metro, 201 Broadway, Oakland. Tickets are $8-$10. 763-1146. 

Jennifer Berezan at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $19.50-$20.50. 548-1761. www.freightandsalvage.org 

The Hicks with Sticks, CD realease party, at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $6. 841-2082. www.starryploughpub.com 

Quddus Sinclair, hip hop, at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

Live And Unplugged, acoustic music showcase, at 7 p.m. Unitarian Universalists Fellowship Hall, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. 703-9350. www.LiveAndUnplugged.org 

Mike Lipskin Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Francesca Lee & Ben Storm at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

Lady Mem’fis at 7 p.m. at Maxwell’s, 341 13th St., Oakland. 839-6169. 

Vince Wallace Quintet at 9 p.m. at Cafe Van Kleef, 1621 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5. 763-7711. www.cafevankleef.com  

Vinyl, Latin percussion, electric funk at 9 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $8-$10. 548-1159.  

Carne Cruda, Los Surf Cumbieros at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Lights Out, Allegiance, Lion of Judah, at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

Diane Schuur with the Caribbean Jazz Project at 8 and 10 p.m. through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $12-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

SATURDAY, JUNE 18 

EXHIBITIONS 

Tapestry Weavers West 20th Anniversary Exhibit at the Nexus Gallery, 2701 Eighth St. Reception from 4 to 7 p.m. 

THEATER 

Grand Kabuki Theater of Japan at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Hall, UC Campus. Tickets are $40-$125. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

FILM 

American Outlaws: “Bloody Mama” at 7 p.m. and “DIty Little Billy” at 9 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Bill Lee reads from his new book, “Born to Lose: Memoirs of a Compulsive Gambler” at 3 p.m. at Eastwind Books of Berkeley, 2066 University Ave. 548-2350.  

Phil Lesh reads from his memoir, “Searching for the Sound: My Life with the Grateful Dead” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Kym Flynn reads from “Thugged Out” at noon at Uncommon Cafe, 2813 Seventh St. 845-5264. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Ruth Botchan Dance Company “More Matters of Life and Death” at 8 p.m. at Western Sy, 2525 Eighth St. Tickets are $18-$20. 848-4878. www.berkeleymovingarts.com 

Golden Gate Boys Choir & Bellringers Spring Concert at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mary Magdalen Church, 2005 Berryman St. Donation $5-$10. 887-4311. www.ggbc.org 

San Francisco Choral Artists “On Wings of Song” at 8 p.m. at Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church, 3534 Lakshore Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $17-$22. 415-979-5779. www.sfca.org  

Kotoja, Nigerian music at 9 p.m. at Ashkenaz. Cost is $11-$13. 525-5054. 

Jason Martineau, Robin Gregory Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Apollo BRG Style at 8 p.m. at Black Repertory Theater., Adeline St. Cost is $5-$10. 652-2120. www.blackrepertorygroup.com 

Chris Cotton, Piedmont Blues, at 2 p.m. at Down Home Music, 10341 San Pablo Ave., El Cerrito. 525-2129. 

Mitch Marcus Quintet at 9 p.m. at Cafe Van Kleef, 1621 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5. 763-7711.  

Megan McLaughlin at 7:30 p.m. at Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Ave. 595-5344.  

FiddleFest with Bobbi Nikles, Cathie Whitesides, Betsy Branch and Michael Stadler at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

A Night of Voices, featuring Duckmandu, The Invisible Cities, Fire Wrecks the Forest, and others at 6 p.m. at Comic Relief, 2026 Shattuck Ave. Free. www.altgeek.net/voices 

A Band Called Pain, Alexic, The Agency at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886.  

Michelle Amador and the True Believers at 8 p.m. at the Jazzschool. Cost is $15. 845-5373. www.jazzschool.com  

Quetzal, Chicano band from L.A., at 9 p.m. at La Peña Cultural Center. Cost is $7-$10. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Lua, a quartet of voices, percussion and strings at 6:30 p.m. at Cafe Valpariso, 3105 Shattuck Ave. 841-3800. 

Steve Smulian, orchestral acoustic guitar, at 7 p.m. at Spuds Pizza, 3290 Adeline St. Cost is $7. 558-0881. 

Bellyachers, Loretta Lynch, The Famous at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $7. 841-2082.  

Quddus Sinclair, hip hop, at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

Marcus Shelby Trio at 9 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

David Jeffrey Quartet with Brendan Millstein at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Clorox Girls, The Observers, Shadow Boxer at 8 p.m. at 924 Gilman St. Cost is $6. 525-9926. 

SUNDAY, JUNE 19 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Blind at the Museum” guided tour at 2 p.m. at Berkeley Art Museum, 2625 Durant Ave. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

“From Life” Plein air and figurative paintings by Iris Sabre in the Foyer Gallery, Albany Community Center, 1249 Marin Ave. Reception for the artist from 4 to 6 p.m. 524-1577. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Poetry Flash “In A Fine Frenzy” Poets Respond to Shakespeare” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. Donation $2. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Ruth Botchan Dance Company “More Matters of Life and Death” at 8 p.m. at Western Sy, 2525 Eighth St. Tickets are $18-$20. 848-4878. www.berkeleymovingarts.com 

The Christy Dana Quintet at 8 p.m. at The Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Ave. Tickets are $12-$15. 524-1124. 

Chamber Music Sundaes with SF Symphony violinist Geraldine Walther at 3:15 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. Tickets are $7-$19. 415-584-5946. 

Julian White, piano, at 3 p.m. at the Berkeley Piano Club, 2724 Haste St. 528-4959. 

Carlos Oliveira and Brazilain Origins, featuring Harvey Wainapel at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

“Ace of Spades” Acoustic Series at 1 p.m. at MamaBuzz Cafe, 2318 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Free. 

Me Without You, Make Believe, Veda at 4 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $10-$12. All ages show. 848-0886.  

Americana Unplugged with Seventh Day Busters at 5 p.m. at Jupiter. 655-5715. 

Slaid Cleaves at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

MONDAY, JUNE 20 

EXHIBITIONS 

“Getting There” works by artists with disabilities and members of East Bay Women Artists opens at NIAD Art Center, 551 23rd St., Richmond, and runs to July 24. 620-0290. www.niad.org 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Arthur Blaustein and Kris Novoselic talk about citizen action and civic engagement in the age of Bush at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Christy Campbell reads from her scientific detective story, “The Botanist and the Vinter: How Wine Was Saved for the World” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

Poetry Express with Charles DuBois at 7 p.m., at Priya Restaurant, 2072 San Pablo Ave. berkeleypoetryexpress@yahoo.com 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Tom Duarte, guitarist, at 7 p.m. at Caffe Trieste, 2500 San Pablo Ave., at Dwight. 548-5198.  

Songwriters Open Mic at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $5. 548-1761 www.freightandsalvage.org 

Faye Carol at 8 and 10 p.m. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $10-$15. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

TUESDAY, JUNE 21 

THEATER 

Shotgun Theater Lab “The Pawn” Tues. and Wed. at 8 p.m. at The Ashby Stage, 1901 Ashby Ave., through July 6. Tickets are $10. 841-6500. www.shotgunplayers.org 

FILM 

Jean-Marie Teno “Africa, I will Fleece You” with the filmmaker in person at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Bob Laird, Director of Undergraduate Admissions at UCB, discusses his new book “The Case for Affirmative Action in University Admissions” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Gail Griffith describes “Will’s Choice: A Suicidal Teen, a Desperate Mother, and a Chronicle of Recovery” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

MUSIC AND DANCE 

Ronnie Gilbert at 1 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-5190. 

Garden of Memory Solstice Concert with thirty diverse composers and musicians from 5 to 9 p.m. at Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave., Oakland. Tickets are $5-$10. 415-563-6355, ext. 3. 

San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers, traditional and contemporary Celtic music, at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave., Albany. 526-3720, ext. 17. 

Garnet Rogers at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50- $18.50. 548-1761.  

Brian Kane, jazz guitar, at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810. 

Jason Martineau, David Sayens Duo at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ.  

Jessica Williams Trio at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$20. 238-9200.  

Jazzschool Tuesdays at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22 

EXHIBITIONS 

“From Isolation to Connection” works by artists with psychiatric disabilities at the Berkeley Art Center. Workshop with the curator and artists at 2 p.m. 644-6893. 

“Getting There” works by artists with disabilities and members of East Bay Women Artists. Reception at 6 p.m. at NIAD Art Center, 551 23rd St., Richmond. 620-0290. www.niad.org 

FILM 

Seventies Underground: “Space is the Place” at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808.  

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Berkeley Poetry Slam with host Charles Ellik and Three Blind Mice, at 8:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5-$7. 841-2082. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“Music for the Spirit” harpsichord concert at noon at First Presbyterian Church of Oakland, 2619 Broadway. 444-3555.  

Ned Boynton Trio at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

The Fourtet Jazz Group at 9 p.m. at Albatross, 1822 San Pablo Ave. 843-2473.  

Calvin Keys Trio at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. www.AnnasJazzIsland.com 

Elijah Henry, Karen Geyser at 9 p.m. at Blakes on Telegraph. Cost is $8-$10. 848-0886. www.blakesontelegraph.com 

Julio Brava, salsa, at 8 p.m. at Shattuck Down Low, 2284 Shattuck Ave. Cost is $5-$10. 548-1159.  

Sonic Camouflage at 8 p.m. at Cafe Van Kleef, 1621 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. 763-7711. 

Kurt Ribak Trio, CD release Party, at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Jez Lowe & James Keelaghan at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

Jessica Williams Trio at 8 and 10 p.m. Yoshi’s at Jack London Square. Cost is $12-$20. 238-9200.  

THURSDAY, JUNE 23 

EXHIBITIONS 

“The People and the Book” A curator’s tour with Elayne Grossbard of paintings and rare books from the Magnes collection at 6:30 p.m. at the Judah L. Magnes Museum, 2911 Russell St. Cost is $4-$6. 549-6950.  

FILM 

International Latino Film Festival “Step Forward” at 7:30 p.m. at La Peña. Cost is $8. 849-2568. www.lapena.org 

Jean-Maire Teno: “Chief!” with the filmmaker in person at 7:30 p.m. at the Pacific Film Archive. Cost is $4-$8. 642-0808. 

READINGS AND LECTURES 

Nathaniel Rich will show video clips and talk about his new book “San Francisco Noir: The City in Film Noir from 1940 to the Present” at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books. 486-0698.  

John Dicker describes “The United States of Wal-Mart” at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852.  

Word Beat Reading Series with Marianne Robinson, Randy Fingland and Sholeh Wolpe at 7 p.m. at Mediterraneum Caffe, 2475 Telegraph Ave. 526-5985. 

MUSIC AND DANCE 

“The Beggar’s Opera” at 8 p.m. at Zellerbach Playhouse, UC Campus. Tickets are $56. 642-9988. www.calperfs.berkeley.edu 

Carol Denney at 8 p.m. at Freight and Salvage. Cost is $17.50-$18.50. 548-1761.  

The People’s Jazz Quintet with Donald “Duck” Bailey, drums, at 8 p.m. at Anna’s Jazz Island, 2120 Allston Way. 841-JAZZ. 

The Twots, Riot A-Go-Go, The Sweet Nothings at 9:30 p.m. at The Starry Plough. Cost is $5. 841-2082.  

Tin Cup Serenade at 9 p.m. at Cafe Van Kleef, 1621 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Cost is $5. 763-7711. www.cafevankleef.com  

Katherine Peck, Crystal Eastman with Fil & Dave, alterna-folk, at 8:30 p.m. at Epic Arts, 1923 Ashby Ave. Cost is $5-$10. www.epicarts.org 

Harvey Wainapel and Carlos Olivera at 8 p.m. at Downtown. 649-3810.  

Charles Lloyd with Geri Allen, Eric Harland, and Larry Grenadier at 8 and 10 p.m. through Sun. at Yoshi’s at Jack London Square, through Sun. Cost is $12-$24. 238-9200. www.yoshis.com 

Self-Not-Self at 8 p.m. at Jupiter. 848-8277. 

Early morning on Ocean View Boulevard is peaceful but not solitary. It’s a wonderful time to be out. The salt tinged air is fresh and the turquoise waves crash along the rock-crusted shore of Monterey Bay. Distinctive tapping draws my attention to an already busy sea otter, using the rock on his chest to open a breakfast mollusk. Nearby two more otters swim in tandem, like friends chatting and planning their day. Walkers and their dogs greet me with smiles and “Good morning.” A group of surfers, both young and old, listen to rock music from a truck radio, gearing up to ride the waves. We’re all savoring this beautiful coastal path as we begin our day in Pacific Grove. 

Located at the northern tip of the Monterey Peninsula, Pacific Grove is nestled between its two famous neighbors. To the south, the tourist-oriented and usually crowded town of Carmel and to the north, larger and more commercial Monterey. It is often described as a quaint town in a spectacular setting, but I see much more: a strong community working toward the future while retaining the traditions of the past, a steward to the rugged Pacific coastline, the Marine Gardens Fish Refuge and hundreds of species of resident flora and fauna. 

Pacific Grove got its start in 1875 as a Christian summer retreat. Lured by fragrant pines, fresh sea air, and moderate climate, many Methodists soon traded their crude summer tents for permanent dwellings. By 1889, the town of Pacific Grove had been incorporated. 

Over the years, I’ve returned time and again, with my family and on my own. What draws me back? What gives Pacific Grove its unique character? On a recent weekend I walked the town and the coast, looking for answers. 

The rough camp tents are physically gone but remain in spirit, and in a few cases, in pieces of canvas caught in the board-and-batten cottages built directly over them. Using a Historic Walking Tour pamphlet I picked up at the Chamber of Commerce, I followed the route entranced by beauties both large and small, bearing plaques identifying them as historically significant buildings. It was hard to imagine the lovely pink cottage with exquisite flower stained-glass windows, in its former camp life. On a larger scale, I dreamed about owning handsome Victorian mansions, many in Queen Anne style, with carved wood doors, decorative cut-outs, fish scale shingles and distinctive peaked cupola affording views of the bay. Many, like Seven Gables, named after Hawthorne’s novel, now operate as popular inns. 

Along Lighthouse Ave. pre-1900 storefronts, formerly housing the tiown pharmacy, tobacco shop and bank, now offer an interesting collection of boutiques and galleries, many specializing in home furnishings and décor.  

Ready for a coffee break, I entered Juice N’ Java, symbolic of the small town charm and sense of community in Pacific Grove, as well as providing great coffee drinks, smoothies, pastries, and light lunches. Here well-spaced tables and chairs beckon you to take your time, as do the sofa and arm chairs across from the stone fireplace. Around me people were chatting, reading, writing, and studying. Always welcoming, this is just the place to feel at home. 

Like Pacific Grove itself, my next stop, the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, is small but special. Its permanent displays pay tribute to Monterey Bay’s cetaceans, 400 species of local birds, geology, Ohlone Indians, and, of course, the monarch butterfly. Sorry to have just missed the annual wildflower show, instead I marveled at nature photographer Jenny Ross’s exhibit “Bears! Icons of the Wild.” Almost feeling like an intruder, I was transfixed by rare, personal glimpses into bear life, almost unreal in detail and lighting. The accompanying panels read like a college course in bear biology. Whenever I’m in Pacific Grove, I make a point to visit the museum for its current special exhibit, always of the highest quality. 

Across the street, on Grand Avenue, I entered Back Porch Fabrics, where owner Gail Abeloe and her talented, friendly staff, honor the past while they stretch its limits into the present. This is not your grandmother’s quilt shop. Twenty-foot ceilings and large windows allow the sun to light up the room and its eye riveting displays. I turned slowly ogling walls covered with sample quilts and projects, many corresponding to classes offered throughout the year; I wanted to try them all. Fabrics with bold colors and large patterns line the shelves, tables hold over 1,600 “fat quarters” in a wild spectrum of hues, and over 600 books fill bookcases. In the back room, I loved the freedom of the quilt exhibit “Thinking Outside The Block” and thought it appropriate to this unique shop and the innovative quilters in Monterey County, described to me by Gail. You don’t need to be a quilter to appreciate the talent displayed at this special shop. 

Another type of craft was displayed at Pavel’s Backerie, on Forest Avenue, where proprietor/baker Paul Wainscoat follows in the tradition of his father, creating European style breads and pastries. Never to busy to chat, Paul told me of his family’s history as I struggled to choose among a glistening cinnamon raisin brioche, a huge bear claw, and an exquisite fruit Danish. Bakers from Europe would visit his father and share their expertise, which Paul, his brother and sister, continue today. 

BookWorks, on Lighthouse Avenue, a great, small town bookstore seemed to call out “Come in, enjoy a book, stay awhile.” This ground floor space, with bright windows, comfortable lounge areas, and honor bar for coffee and pastries, resembles a private home with books. Displays of local authors, monthly book club meetings and literary events, a bright cheerful children’s area, and a steady flow of customers with special requests describe this business that values service to its customers and provides just the place to discover a new book. 

On my second day I explored the natural beauty of Pacific Grove’s four-mile Drive, from Lover’s Point Park to Asilomar State Beach. Perfect for a bike ride or a walk, and free of charge, this route along the carefully conserved yet fully accessible coastline and bluffs is testament to the commitment of this community. 

Lover’s Point Park is a lovely spot to spend time, either taking in the views from the grassy bluff, grilling sausages in the picnic area, or getting wet at the small, sandy, protected beach; this is also a popular spot for scuba divers. For the more active, there’s a sand volleyball court and kayak rentals and lessons. 

Anticipating the surprises ahead I followed the coastal path past white-sand beaches, rocky coves, and hundreds of tide pools and wasn’t disappointed. Seals and sea lions draped across the rocks. Sentinel-like cormorants. Graceful brown pelicans gliding just above the water. A Great Blue heron bobbing on a giant kelp bed. Sea stars and anemones exposed in tide pools. Along the trail, landscaped with native plants, are benches with dedications: “pause friends and relax”, “may the beauty of the sea give you peace.”  

Up Asilomar Boulevard is Point Pinos Lighthouse, the oldest continuously operated lighthouse on the West Coast, its 50,000-candlepower beacon shining since 1855. Attractively situated along the public golf course, this small, white, Cape-Cod style, clapboard building took me back in time to the days when this light, once burning sperm whale oil, was the only deterrent to a ship’s crashing on the rocky coast. Inside I followed the tour guide through two Victorian era rooms and learned about Emily Fish who ran the lighthouse in the 1800s. 

As the day neared its end and the sun began its descent, I reached Asilomar Beach, with 100 acres of white dunes, a long wide sandy beach and tide pools rich with marine life. Greeted again with “hellos,” the cries of gulls and the happy bark of frolicking dogs, I walked the boardwalk path as it led me past crashing surf and rocky coastline. What better way could there be than to end the day with a walk on this beach, lingering to appreciate the spectacular display of sand, water and sky. 

Pacific Grove, offering a refuge of charm and natural setting, will haunt you with its presence and taunt you with its absence. You might find yourself, like its famous winged residents, wanting to return every year. 

Getting there: 

Pacific Grove is 120 miles from San Francisco. Take 101 south through San Jose, then 156 west to the coast at Hwy. 1. Follow Hwy. 1 south to 68-exit west to Pacific Grove. 

Where to stay: 

Monterey Peninsula Inns, 1100 Lighthouse Ave. (800) 525-3373. www.montereyinns.com. 

Four inns at affordable rates, doubles from $79. 

Centrella Inn, 612 Central Ave. (831) 373-3372 or (800) 233-3372. ww.centrellainn.com. Victorian rooms from $159. 

Where to eat: 

Toasties Café, 702 Lighthouse Ave. (831) 373-7543. 

Country restaurant serving breakfast ($5 to $8) and lunch ($4 to $9). 

Peppers MexiCali Café, 170 Forest Ave. (831) 373-6892. 

Fresh Mexican with hint of Central American influence, Beef, chicken, seafood entrees from $8 to $17. Open for lunch and dinner.  

Fishwife at Asilomar, 1996 Sunset Dr. (831) 375-7107. www.fishwife.com. California seafood, pasta with Caribbean accent. Serving lunch ($8 to $13) and dinner ($8 to $17). 

What to do: 

Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, 165 Forest Ave. (831) 648-311. www.pgmuseum.org. Open Tues-Sun, 10-5, free. 

Point Pinos Lighthouse, Lighthouse Avenue off Asilomar Boulevard. (831) 648 5716. www.pgmuseum.org. Thurs-Sun 1-4 p.m., free. 

Pacific Grove Chamber of Commerce, 584 Central Ave. (831) 373 3304, or (800) 656-6650. www.pacificgrove.org. 

FRIDAY, JUNE 17 

City Commons Club Noon Luncheon with Jaleh Pirnazar on “Iran Struggles for Democracy” Luncheon at 11:45 a.m. for $13, speech at 12:30 p.m., at the Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant St. For reservations call 526-2925 or 665-9020. 

“Take Back Our Schools” Day On the 51st Anniversary of Brown vs. Board. Rally at noon at Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland. Followed by activities and teach-in. 289-3318, 593-3956. 

“Hip-Hop Culture, Politics and Social Justice” a discussion with with authors Adam Mansbach, Jeff Chang, Tricia Rose and Bakari Kitwana at 7:30 p.m. at Cody’s Books. 845-7852. www.codysbooks.com 

“Awakening to the Divine in Everyday Life” with art therapist Deborah Purdy at 7:30 p.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Ave. www.sos-ca.org 

Berkeley Chess Club meets Fridays at 8 p.m. at the East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St. Players at all levels are welcome. 845-1041. 

Berkeley Critical Mass Bike Ride meets at the Berkeley BART the second Friday of every month at 5:30 p.m. 

Kirtan, im provisational devotional chanting at 7:30 p.m. at 850 Talbot, at Solano, Albany. Donation $10. 526-9642. 

Women in Black Vigil, from noon to 1 p.m. at UC Berkeley, Bancroft at Telegraph. wibberkeley@yahoo.com 548-6310, 845-1143. 

Meditation, Peace Vigil an d Dialogue, gather at noon on the grass close to the West Entrance to UC Berkeley, on Oxford St. near University Ave. People of all traditions are welcome to join us. Sponsored by the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. 655-6169. www.bpf.org 

SATURDAY, JUNE 18 

Summ er Solstice Celebration and Crafts Fair from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Berkeley Farmers’ Market, Center St. at MLK, Jr. Way. 548-3333. 

Temescal Street Fair from noon to 6 p.m. on Telegraph Ave. between 51st and 48th Sts. Music, performances, craft and community booths, and food. 593-9831. 

Berkeley Alliance of Neighborhood Associations meets at 9:15 a.m. at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Sproul Conference Room, 1st Floor, 2727 College Ave. www.berkeleycna.com  

Berkeley Garden Club Spring Plant Sale from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 547 Grizzly Peak Blvd., top of euclid. 524-7296. 

Building and Planting for the Birds from 9 a.m. to noon at the U.C. Field Station, Richmond. Help is needed to assemble and paint potting tables to help expand our native plant nursery. Tools provided, but you are welcome to bring your own. Pre-registration required; youth under 18 will need a waiver signed by their parent or guardian. Sponsored by the Watershed Project. 231-5783. www.thewatershedproject.org  

“Recycling, Waste Reduction and the Zero Waste Household” Class includes hands-on activities and a tour of Berkeley recycling facilities. From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Call for location. 548-2220, ext. 233. 

Project Learning Tree A program on forest ecology and environmental issues, design ed for teachers of grades K-12. From 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. Cost is $45-$51. Registration required 636-1684. 

Talking with Turtles Meet our resident reptiles and learn about their behaviors at 11 a.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

Butterfly Trading Cards Create your own set of cards to take home, and learn about these insects and the plants they need to survive. From 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. For ages seven and up. Cost is $3-$5. Registration required. 525-2233. 

Walk in the Wild The 12th annual fundraiser for the Oakland Zoo with gourmet foods and wines. Cost is $75-$85. For reservations call 632-9525. www.oaklandzoo.org 

Growing Subtropicals in Bay Area Gardens at 10 a.m. at M agic Gardens, 729 Heinz Ave. 644-2351. 

“Resistance in Haiti” with Haitian-American activist, Lucie Tondreau at 7 p.m. at St. John’s Community Center, 6500 Gladys Ave., El Cerrito. 483-7481. 

Black Community Forum from noon to 3:30 p.m. at the African Ameri can Museum and Library, 659 14th St., Oakland. Sponsored by the Third Baptist Foundation of SF and the Gibbs Community Foundation of Oakland. www.gibbsmagazine.com 

Create a Spiritual Business Plan with Pat Sullivan from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Unity of Berke ley, 2075 Eunice St. Cost is $125. Registration required. 530-0284. 

Child Car Seat Check with the Berkeley Police Dept. from 10 a.m. to noon at the UC Garage on Addison at Oxford. 647-1111. www.habitot.org 

Free Sailboat Rides between 1 and 4 p.m. at the C al Sailing Club in the Berkeley Marina. Bring warm waterproof clothes. www.cal-sailing.org 

Walking Tour of Old Oakland “New Era/New Politics” highlights African-American leaders who have made their mark on Oakland. Meet at 10 a.m. and the African American Museum and Library at 659 14th St. 238-3234. www.oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

Free Garden Tours at Regional Parks Botanic Garden Sat. and Sun. at 2 pm. Regional Parks Botanic Garden, Tilden Park. Call to confirm. 841-8732. www.nativeplants.org 

Historical and Botanical Tour of Chapel of the Chimes, a Julia Morgan landmark, at 10 a.m. at 4499 Piedmont Ave. at Pleasant Valley. Reservations required 228-3207.  

New TaKeTiNa Intensive with Zorina Wolf, from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at The Wildcat Studio, 2525 8th St. at Dwight. Cost is $95. 650-493-8046. www.taketina.com 

Faith and Feminism: “Awakening the Energy for Change: The Black Madonna and the Womb of God” a conference from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. at GTU, Pacific School of Religion, 1798 Scenic Ave. Cost is $95, includes lunch and materials. 849-8268. www. 

gtuss.org/courses/conf.html 

“Inner and Outer Peace Though Meditation” at 3 p.m. at Barnes and Noble Bookstore, Emeryville. 547-0905. 

Kol Hadash Interfaith/ 

Intercultural Picnic from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Terrace Park, Albany. Bring picnic and BBQ items. Sodas, paper goods and grills provided. RSVP to event@kolhadash.org 

SUNDAY, JUNE 19 

Juneteenth on Adeline from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. between Alcatraz and Ashby with live music, arts, crafts, food and cultural activities. www.epicarts.org 

Year of the Estuary: San Pablo Bay Hike Meet at 2 p.m. in the public parking area at Pacific Ave. and San Pablo Ave. in Rodeo to explore the natural history of Lone Tree Point. 525-2233. 

Berkeley CyberSalon “Citizen Journalism” with Dan Gillmor, Becky O’Malley, and Peter Merholz at 6 p.m. at the Hillside Club, 2286 Cedar St.  

“The Impact of the War on Iraq’s Workers” with two members of the General Union of Oil Workers in Basrah at 6:45 p.m. at St. Joseph the Worker Church, 1640 Addison St. Sponsored by US Labor Against the War. Donation $5, no one turned away. http://uslaboragainstwar.org 

Hands-On Bicycle Clinic from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at REI, 1338 San Pablo Ave. Free. 527-4140. 

Father’s Day Campfire and Sing A Long Bring your hot dogs, buns, marshmallows and long sticks at 5:30 p.m. at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. Dress for fog. We will walk uphill to the campfire circle. Call for disabled assistance. 525-2233. 

Family Violence Prevention Fund 5K Run with the Oakland A’s an d Macy’s at McAfee Coliseum Creekside Parking Lot, north end of D Lot. Registration at 7:30 a.m., run starts at 9 a.m. Cost is $25-$35. www.endabuse.org 

“Darwinism and Religion” with Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow at 9:30 a.m. at Unitarian Universalist C hurch of Berkeley, 1 Lawson Rd., Kensington. 525-0302. 

“Mahatma’s Experiments with Christ: Gandhi and Christ” a discussion with Bharathi Nuthalapati, a doctoral student at the Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena at noon at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, 310 0 Telegraph Ave. 848-8821. 

Berkeley Oakland Lesbians Diners Dinner at a Berkeley restaurant. For more information and to join BOLD, please go to http://groups.yahoo.com/ 

group/BOLDiners 

Introduction to the Alexander Technique from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Elephant Pharmacy, 1607 Shattuck Ave. 549-9200. 

Free Sailboat Rides between 1 and 4 p.m. at the Cal Sailing Club in the Berkeley Marina. Bring warm waterproof clothes. www.cal-sailing.org 

Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace Peace walk around the lake every Sun. Meet at 3 p.m. at the colonnade at the NE end of the lake. 763-8712. lmno4p.org 

Tibetan Buddhism with Sylvia Gretchen on “Healing Pain” at 6 p.m. at the Tibetan Nyingma Institute, 1815 Highland Pl. 843-6812. www.nyingmainstitute.com 

Multicultur al Shavuot Festival with food, crafts, workshops, music and dancing at 1 p.m. at BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. 848-0237. 

MONDAY, JUNE 20 

Arthur Blaustein and Kris Novoselic talk about citizen action and civic engagement in the age of Bush at 7:30 p.m. at Black O ak Books. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Summer Solstice Gathering at 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Interim Solar Calendar Cesar Chavez Park, Berkeley Marina, including a brief astronomy workshop led by Tory Brady, Exploratorium Teacher Institute. 

Summer Scie nce Week “Insects and Plants” from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mon. - Fri. at Tilden Nature Center, Tilden Park. Cost is $160 Berkeley residents, $176 non-residents. Registration required. 636-1684. 

Cancelled: “RFID: What's It All About?” a Community Informational Forum at 6:30 p.m. at the South Berkeley Senior Center. Sponsored by the Berkeley Public Library. 981-6195. 

“Citizen Action and Civic Engagement in the Age of Bush” with Arthur Blaustein and Kris Novoselic at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books, 1491 Shattuck Ave. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

Tenant’s Rights Workshop at 6 p.m. at the Long Haul Info 

shop 3124 Shattuck Ave. www.barringtoncollective.org 

Conflict Resolution Skills Class at 7 p.m. at Oscar Wilde Co-op, 2410 Warring St. Learn about different appr oaches to conflict, your conflict style, active listening, effective communication, and the basic philosophies that aid in transforming interpersonal conflict. www.barringtoncollective.org 

“Story Tells” A story swap with storytellers and story listeners a t 7 p.m., special guest Mary Ellen Hill, local professional storyteller at 8 p.m. at Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Jack London Square, 98 Broadway, Oakland. 527-1141.  

“Honoring Our Parents: Two Jewish Sons Remember” with journalists and authors Ari Goldm an and Samuel Freedman, at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation Netivot Shalom, 1316 University Ave. 549-9447. 

Summer Reading Game “Search for Dragonfire” open to children of all ages at Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. The reading game continues through August 20. 5 26-3720. 

Philip Roth Book Club meets at 7:30 p.m. at the BRJCC, 1414 Walnut St. Cost is $10. Registration required. 848-0237, ext. 110. 

TUESDAY, JUNE 21 

Tuesday Tilden Walkers Join a few slowpoke seniors at 9:30 a.m. in the parking lot near the Little Far m for an hour or two walk. 215-7672, 524-9992. 

Summer Solstice Words and Music Bring your guitars, drums and poetry from 11 a.m. to noon at Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Park. 525-2233. 

“Cuba: 45 Years of Struggle against U.S. Imperialism” at 7 p.m. at Berkeley Unitarian Fellowship, 1924 Cedar St. at Bonita. Donation $3-$10 benefits the ongoing work of the Committee to Free the Cuban Five. To reserve free childcare call 415-821-6545.  

“The Case for Affirmative Action in University Admissions” with Bob Laird, Director of Undergraduate Admissions at UCB, at 7:30 p.m. at Black Oak Books, 1491 Shattuck Ave. 486-0698. www.blackoakbooks.com 

“History of the Tele Times” a screening and discussion of the underground magazine with BN Duncan, Claire Burch and Ace Backw ards at 7 p.m. at Book Zoo, 2556 Telegraph Ave. 883-1332. 

Red Cross Blood Services Volunteer Orientation at 10 a.m. at 6230 Claremont Ave., Oakland. Advance sign-up needed 594-5165. 

Poetry as a Spiritual Practice with Roy Doughty at 7 p.m. at Unity of Ber keley, 2075 Eunice St. Free. 271-8318. 

“Pacing Yourself for Optimum Functioning” at noon in the Mafly Auditorium, Alta Bates, Herrick Campus, 2001 Dwight Way. Sponsored by Arthritis Foundation/Fibromyalgia. 644-3273. 

Berkeley Camera Club meets at 7:30 p.m., at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda. 548-3991. www.berkeleycameraclub.org 

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22 

Return of the Over-the-Hills Gang Hikers 55 years and older who are interested in nature study, history, fitness, and fun are invited to join us on a series of monthly excursions exploring our Regional Parks. Meets at 10 a.m. To register call 525-2233.  

Insects for Kids A free class for children ages 5-10, at 9 a.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. www.barringtoncollective.org 

Walking Tour of Historic Oakland Churches and Temples Meet at 10 a.m. at the front of the First Prebyterian Church at 2619 Broadway. Tour lasts 90 minutes. Reservations can be made by calling 238-3234. www. 

oaklandnet.com/walkingtours 

“Wildly Successful Plants of Northern California,” a slide show with Pam Peirce at 7 p.m. at the Ecology Center, 2530 San Pablo Ave. 548-2220. 

Jefferson Elementary School Proposed Name Change Public Hearing at 6:30 p.m. at at Old City Hall Council Chambers, 2134 MLK Jr. Way. www.berk eley.k12.ca.us 

Berkeley Unified School District Public Hearing on the 2005-6 Budget at 7:30 p.m. at Old City Hall Council Chambers, 2134 MLK Jr. Way. www.berkeley.k12.ca.us 

Dine Out and Silent Auction for African AIDS Orphans at Unicorn, 2533 Telegraph Av e. Co-sponsored by Priority Africa Network, ACT UP East Bay and others. For reservations call 841-4339. 

“Zar-Reet!” a documentary of two Moroccan woman, by Albany resident Khadijah Chadly, at 7 p.m. at the Albany Library, 1247 Marin Ave. 526-3720, ext. 16. 

“Lethal Medicine” a documentary on the myths of animal experimentation, at 7:30 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Free, but $5 donations accepted. 925-487-4419. 

“Planning Ahead: Sparing Your Heirs with a Living Trust” at 1:30 p.m. at North B erkeley Senior Center. Sponsored by Berkeley Gray Panthers. 548-9696. 

Walk Berkeley for Seniors meets every Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the Sea Breeze Market, just west of the I-80 overpass. Everyone is welcome, wear comfortable shoes. 548-9840. 

The Berkele y Lawn Bowling Club provides free instruction every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at 2270 Action St. 841-2174.  

THURSDAY, JUNE 23 

Wellstone Democratic Club at 6:45 p.m. at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. Social hour at 6 p.m. Don Hazen from Alternet.com w ill speak about a national progressive strategy. 

Beginning and Intermediate Computer Workshop for all ages, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Long Haul, 3124 Shattuck Ave. Free, but registration required. call after 6 p.m. 540-0751. 

Local Legends Series with Judy G rahn on women’s spirituality and lesbian feminism at 7 p.m. at Belladonna, 2436 Sacramento St. 883-0600. 

Easy Does It Disability Assistance Board of Directors’ Meeting at 6:30 p.m. at 1744A University Ave. Open to the public. 845-5513. www.easyland.org 

St eps to Buying Your Own Home at 7 p.m. at Shaw Properties, 400 45th St., Oakland. Includes the process of pre-approval for financing, including income requirements and credit issues, and finding a realtor. www.barringtoncollective.org 

American Red Cross Mobile Blood Drive, 1 to 7 p.m. at St. Mary Magdalen, 2005 Berryman St. To make an appointment call 1-800-448-3543. www.BeADonor.com 

ONGOING 

Summer Camps for Children offered by the City of Berkeley, including swimming, sports and twilight basketball, from June 20 to August 12, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 981-5150, 981-5153. 

Free Lunches for Berkeley Children beginning June 20, Mon.-Fri., 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Frances Albrier Center, James Kenney Center, MLK, Jr. Youth Services Center, Strawberry Creek, Washingt on School and Rosa Parks School. 981-5146. 

CITY MEETINGS 

Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board meets Mon. June 20 at 7 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Pam Wyche, 644-6128 ext. 113. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/rent 

Creeks Task Force meets Mon. June 20 at 7 p.m. at t he North Berkeley Senior Center. Erin Dando, 981-7410. www.ci.ber- 

keley.ca.us/planning/landuse/Creeks/default.html 

Council Agenda Committee meets Mon., June 20 at 2:30 p.m., at 2180 Milvia St. 981-6900. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ 

citycouncil/agenda-committee 

City Council meets Tues., June 21, at 7 p.m in City Council Chambers. 981-6900. www.ci. 

berkeley.ca.us/citycouncil 

Citizens Budget Review Commission meets Wed., June 22, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-7041. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/budget 

Civic Arts Commission meets Wed., June 22, at 6:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Mary Ann Merker, 981-7533. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/civicarts 

Disaster Council meets Wed., June 22 at 7 p.m., at the Emergency Operations Center, 997 Cedar St. William Greulich, 981-5502. www.ci.berkeley.ca. us/commissions/disaster 

Energy Commission meets Wed., June 22, at 6:30 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Neal De Snoo, 981-5434. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/energy 

Planni ng Commission meets Wed., June 22, at 7 p.m., at the North Berkeley Senior Center. Janet Homrighausen, 981-7484. www.ci.berkeley. ca.us/commissions/planning 

Police Review Commission meets Wed. June 22, at 7:30 p.m. at the North Berkeley Senior Center. 981-4950. www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/commissions/policereview 

Zoning Adjustments Board meets Thurs., June 23, at 7 p.m., in City Council Chambers. Mark Rhoades, 981-7410. www.ci.ber 

keley.ca.us/commissions/zoning?n

The office of Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) announced this week that Berkeley High School student Naomi Drexler is the ninth congressional district winner of the annual Congressional Art Competition, the third time a BHS student has won the award in recent years. 

Drexler’s entry was selected over 25 other artworks submitted by high school students throughout the East Bay district. 

Drexler’s winning work, “Eyes of Sorrow,” a portrait of a young East Indian woman, will hang in the U.S. Capitol building during the “An Artistic Discovery” competition’s year-long exhibit. 

“We are very proud to have Naomi’s work represent our district in the capitol,” Lee said in a released statement. “This is a great opportunity to highlight the ways that art education can enrich the lives of our young people.” 

Berkeley Unified School District Public Information Officer Mark Coplan said, “We’re really excited to see another Berkeley High School student win this award.”  

He said that the number of Berkeley High winners over the past few years “is in part attributable to the talent of these young artists, and in part attributable to the existing fine arts program at Berkeley High School that is not available in many other local high schools. And with a new fine arts small school opening up next year, we believe that there will be even more opportunities for upcoming young artists in our area.” 

The Arts and Humanities Academy (AHA) is scheduled to begin operation at Berkeley High in the fall. 

J

Today my 3-year-old granddaughter will enjoy what she calls “gradulation.” This is the little party at her home day care center for which the teacher bakes cupcakes to mark the departure of the four oldest children for “real” pre-schools. Even though it’s a small group, only about 10 kids, most of whom are too young to talk much, she’s taking it very seriously, insisting on wearing the elaborate tulle ballerina dress which a cousin gave her to the party. She’s been ready to move on for a long time now. Ever since she was 2 and a half, she’s told people that she was 3, stamping her little foot and furrowing her tiny brow if anyone dared to contradict her. 

To coin a phrase, kids grow up so fast these days. It’s always been that way, really. But the pressure they feel to decide early what they want to do in life has gotten even stronger lately. My granddaughter announces that she wants to be a “princess doctor” when she grows up—in other words both glamorous and professional, a tall order for anyone, but typical of the challenges young women are facing. And athletic to boot—she woke up in the middle of the night recently and told her mother that she was already “the team manager for the princess soccer team,” and she doesn’t even play on a soccer team yet. She is, however, already a princess. 

Since it’s the end of the school year and it’s California, we’ve seen a lot of the first-cousins-once-removed this season. These are the 20-something student offspring of our many first cousins (I had 18) out to see the world. One of them came to Berkeley for her architecture degree, and is now ready to start trying to be a “princess architect.” Another one wants to be an English professor, though he wonders if he can ever make a living at it. A third, the one most interested in saving the world, is starting with a stint working for a Midwestern legislature, and then she’s going on to law school or academia. They’re all concerned about the serious mess this country is in, which is reassuring for those of us who are getting tired of worrying about it as much as we’ve had to. A fine bunch, and we appreciate their help with the job. I hope some of them have a few new ideas, because things look pretty bad at the moment. 

On the national scene, we have now seen conclusive proof, via England, that the Bush administration’s plans to invade Iraq pre-dated the supposed weapons-of-mass-destruction excuse. And what’s worse, as we’ve said many times in this space, we told you so. It’s appalling to think that while hundreds of thousands of sensible people were in the streets shouting fraud, both the national press and the Congress believed (or pretended to believe) that Bush was telling the truth. And then there’s Tom DeLay, lying, cheating and stealing right out in front of everyone, while Congress looks the other way, perhaps fearing that their own peccadilloes will be exposed next. 

Here in California we have Schwarzenegger, who has turned his back on the conventional political process in favor of a populism run amok. He’s raised so much money that he can disdain the time-honored tradition of buying a few legislators to promote his agenda, instead planning to buy a whole election. Just like in the movies, he gets what he wants by stomping on little guys, teachers and nurses. 

And when Howard Dean speaks up about all of this in the mildest possible way, the nervous nellies in his own Democratic party start to quiver with anxiety. They’re shocked to hear that the Republicans are mostly white Christians? We could tell them even worse things Dean might say about Republicans, but unfortunately also about many Democrats.  

The captive U.S. press continues to fiddle away while the country burns. The Hearst daily today ran a couple of letters complaining that its front pages are now devoted to massive photos of hugging gurus, while the disintegration of the nation is a small item in the back pages. It didn’t seem to be possible to dumb down that paper any further, but they’ve managed to do it. The common excuse is that young people are too simple-minded to read a real newspaper, but the young people I’ve been seeing don’t fit that stereotype. It might just be that they’re too smart to read trash. With the Internet, they now have serious choices. 

Will the new generation of young adults be able to straighten out the world? The ones I see might not be a representative sample, but at least they’re planning to try. Good for them, and good luck to them—and to the rest of us. We need their help, because we’ve got things pretty messed up on our own.